Beginner
by GenkiPlus
Summary: New year. New school. Different state. Zoey moved all the way across the country so her father could have his dream job. What she didn't know was that moving to Angel Grove was where her life would really begin. As much as she'd try to fight it, this is where she was meant to end up. Fate guided her there. Eventual Adam/OC with sprinklings of Rocky/Aisha & Tommy/Kim.
1. Welcome to Angel Grove, California

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. I'll stay and fight._

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

* * *

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter One -**

The one thing wrong with it being the first day of school was obvious. You had to wake up obnoxiously early. And it was common knowledge that teenagers loved to get their sleep, even if it meant sleeping through their alarm and numerous tapping of the snooze button. If you were lucky enough to get up on time, you could see what your parents were having for breakfast and take a slice of bacon, or maybe even commandeer a spoonful of scrambled eggs. Having a delicious breakfast was always a plus.

But still getting up at 6am was not. And it never will be.

Adam Park was one of those kids who didn't enjoy waking up early. He spent a good chunk of his summer getting the chance to sleep in. Well, on days when Angel Grove wasn't being attacked by Lord Zedd's latest monster creation. Adam, along with his closest friends were the Power Rangers and they were given the task of protecting the citizens of Angel Grove [and the rest of the world] from the oncoming monster attacks. Adam enjoyed protecting others and saving the world, but sometimes he also liked to sleep in beyond six in the morning. Sometimes he just wanted to be a normal teenager.

After arriving at school, Adam was greeted by two of his best friends, Rocky DeSantos and Aisha Campbell. The three teenagers had attended Stone Canyon High together until they moved to Angel Grove after becoming Power Rangers.

"Hey, Adam!" Rocky shouted, catching his best friend's hand in a high five. Aisha's bright smile caught Adam and he grinned. He was lucky to have such great friends around. "What's up, guys?" Adam asked as he began to turn the lock on his locker before managing to open it.

"Eh, I'm still hungry." Rocky groaned, rubbing his stomach with the free hand that wasn't holding onto his backpack strap.

Aisha raised her eyebrows and began laughing. "Oh yeah, he tells me that all he's had this morning was bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and some sausage. I mean, _that's all_." Aisha patted Rocky's shoulder. "Human garbage disposal, here."

The three friends continued to laugh. As Adam grabbed his notebook and put it in his backpack, he looked up to see three of his other friends coming their way. Tommy Oliver, Billy Cranston and Kimberly Hart. They, along with Rocky and Aisha, were also Power Rangers. When Adam had moved from Stone Canyon, he, Rocky and Aisha took the place of three previous rangers, Jason Lee Scott, Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor. It was difficult trying to fit in with the group at first, but Adam was slowly beginning to break out of his shell.

It was Kimberly who spoke first when the other three reached their group of friends. "Did you guys see your schedules? Please tell me I'm not the only one who has history first period." The brunette waved a piece of paper in her hand as she frowned. Nobody's best subject was history, except Billy of course. Every subject was Billy's best subject.

Pulling his schedule out from his notebook, Adam began to scan through his list of classes. First period history, second period English, third was a study hall. Oh hey, Adam got first lunch period this year, that was always the prime lunch time at Angel Grove High. "Looks like I've got history, too. Anyone else?" Adam looked up from his schedule and saw Rocky grinning at him. "Guess Kim's stuck with us for history. Maybe we'll learn about the history of pizza or something!"

Kim rolled her eyes so hard that it looked like they were going to fall out of their sockets. "Why are you always thinking about food, Rocky? Didn't he eat this morning?" Kimberly turned to Aisha who nodded her head furiously. "Ate an entire grocery store and I could still hear his stomach rumble during the car ride here."

The bell rang and quickly alerted everyone that they needed to get to their first class. As it turned out, everyone with the exception of Billy had history first period so they all filed into their nearby classroom and found empty seats near one another. "How come Billy got out of this one?" Tommy sat down in front of Kimberly and looked towards his friends.

"Remember he took that summer course and it counted towards his history credit this year. He got another study hall. Lucky duck." Rocky sat behind Kimberly and frowned. Out of everyone, Rocky hated history class the most. Adam didn't mind it, he just didn't enjoy the countless research papers they had to write in the class.

Ms. Appleby walked into the classroom and quickly sat down at her desk. The other students in the room began to quiet down as their teacher began taking roll. "Aisha Campbell?" Ms. Appleby looked up and saw Aisha wave and smile. Nodding her head, their teacher continued on. About halfway down the list of names came one nobody heard before. "Zoey Montgomery?" Ms. Appleby looked up once more and scanned the room, the name clearly unfamiliar to her as well.

"Here." Came a quiet voice from a seat next to the row of windows. It came from a girl that nobody has seen before, she had been so quiet that those around her didn't realize she was even there. "Ah, yes! You just moved here didn't you?" Ms. Appleby smiled at Zoey and turned to the rest of the class. "Please make sure she feels welcome here, she's moved here all the way from Pennsylvania."

Zoey turned to the rest of the class and gave a small smile before turning back to the open notebook on her desk. Her blonde hair falling in sheets around her face, hiding the flush of embarrassment that came with being the typical 'new girl'.

Adam didn't realize his gaze was lingering in Zoey's direction until Rocky had swatted his arm. Turning to his best friend, Adam could see the huge grin spread across Rocky's face. All Adam could do was shake his head and try to pay attention to Ms. Appleby's lecture on the events leading up to the American Civil War.

"Now everyone, can anybody tell me which state was the first to secede from the Union?" Ms. Appleby asked as she began writing her loopy cursive on the chalkboard.

* * *

If lunch time was a class at Angel Grove High, it would be almost everyone's favorite. And Rocky DeSantos would get straight A's. He laughed as he carried his tray back to the table he and the others usually sat at. Sitting across from Adam, the others slowly began to join them with their own lunches. "So we have a new girl in our grade?" Billy asked since he'd missed the small introduction in first period.

Kimberly nodded and took a sip of her water. "Yeah. Over there." She nodded her head towards the blonde girl who had just emerged from the lunch line. Her wavy blonde hair fell over her shoulders. She had been wearing a dark purple tank top over black shorts. The laces on one of her high tops had begun to unravel and she knew it as she tried to walk without tripping over the unruly laces. Zoey looked over at Kimberly's table and just set her tray down there. "Sorry, I just need to tie my shoe." The blonde said softly and knelt down to begin tying her shoe.

"Oh, hey! It's fine! Why don't you just eat with us?" Aisha smiled and placed Zoey's tray at the empty spot next to Rocky.

Zoey stood up once she was finished and looked around the table. While she didn't want to join anyone else for lunch, she could also tell that if she said no, they would continue to hound her for the rest of the day making sure she knew where she was going. Sighing softly, Zoey gave up and sat down next to Rocky.

"I'm Aisha." Aisha gestured to herself before going around the rest of the table and introducing the rest of her friends. "And these weird people are Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, Adam and Rocky."

The rounds of _nice to meet you _and _hey there _ended finally so Zoey could begin eating her lunch. She just knew it was a matter of time before one of them asked where she moved from. Or any other random personal information they were curious about. "So Pennsylvania, huh?" Tommy asked. "I've never been there. Where'd you move from?"

And there it was. Right on cue. Maybe they could read her mind.

Zoey set her sandwich down and swallowed before answering. "Philadelphia."

"The City of Brotherly Love." Billy chimed in and nodded his head. "I've been there before. My parents took me to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I'd love to go back."

"And the home of the cheesesteak." Rocky said with a dreamy look in his eye. "I could really go for one of those right now."

Zoey turned to him and let out another small smile. "Hold on. Let me teleport back to Philadelphia and get you one." It was risky telling a lame joke to people she just met, but it just slipped out of her mouth. "Who am I kidding? Nobody can teleport."

Digging back into her sandwich, Zoey missed the six other teenagers all exchange glances. Zoey thankfully was oblivious to the looks and shaking of heads, and it was Adam who had broken the sudden silence. "How come you moved so far away?"

Obligatory question about why your family packed you up and moved you all the way across the country. "My dad's job. He had a great opportunity and can't really say that I blame him for taking it. Last winter was brutal, so maybe I won't have to shovel snow out here." Zoey laughed softly and looked up at the group around her.

"Oh no, you won't have to worry about that. It never snows here." Kimberly set her salad fork down and grinned. "I've never seen it snow. How bad can it be?"

Zoey's eyebrows went up and she shook her head. "Imagine having to shovel your car out of a snow cone mountain. A frustrating snow cone mountain. The only decent thing was school cancellations. Let me get some extra sleep." Winters in Pennsylvania were tricky. Sometimes you'd get lucky and the storm would completely shift and miss you all together. Or other times the meteorologists would drop the ball and underestimate just how much snow would be dumped on them. "I lived in my winter coat last year. It sucked."

"Unfortunately we don't get snow days out here. Just the occasional shut down due to flooding. Or other things." Tommy whispered the last bit of his sentence but Zoey didn't quite catch it. "What did you say, Tommy?" The blonde asked but Billy quickly interrupted them. "So, Zoey, how long have you been here?"

Tommy gave a quick nod of thanks to Billy before taking a drink of his water.

"Uhm. Two weeks? I've lost count. There's still so many boxes in our house I haven't been able to find my calender." Zoey said as she finished her lunch and sighed. The bell rang once again and everyone stood up. She hated to do this, but maybe these guys weren't so bad. There was no harm in asking for directions to their next class. "Actually, I have music next, can you guys point me in the right direction?"

Kimberly immediately jumped out of her seat. "I have music, too! You can come with me." The petite girl clad in the pink shirt and jean shortalls quickly latched onto Zoey's arm and began to lead her out of the cafeteria. Zoey barely had time to toss out her trash and throw her backpack over her shoulder before Kim escorted her through the doors.

The rest of the group began to follow suit, but were heading to different classes since Kimberly was the only one in their group who had music. "Well, she seems nice." Aisha said as she picked up her backpack.

"Hopefully Kim doesn't drive her crazy in music class." Tommy grinned. "She seems way too excited to finally have someone else in that class with her."

Adam looked towards the cafeteria doors and let out a soft sigh.

* * *

"Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay!"

The Command Center came to life with the sound of Alpha 5 running around the consoles, flipping switches and pressing buttons. Zordon shook his head and looked towards Alpha. "Alpha, we need to know where that power coin ended up. If it falls into Lord Zedd's hands, there's no telling what destruction he could cause in not only Angel Grove, but the rest of the world."

"I know, Zordon. But unfortunately our maps aren't saying an exact location. They're just saying that it's resurfaced somewhere on the east side of Angel Grove. Give me some time and I can reconfigure our system to give us a more precise location." Alpha put his hands on his hips before going back to the far right console and began fiddling with the switches.

"Good. We need to get that power coin before Lord Zedd finds out about it. For now, we don't need to worry the rangers about this. Let them get through their first day of school before we bring them in this. When the time comes, they'll be informed." Zordon nodded firmly.

Hopefully they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

The first day of school was always nerve wracking. Especially when you were starting over at a different school in a state that's all the way across the country. Zoey was relieved to be done for the day and on her way home. Her backpack felt heavy with the books she needed to do her homework with that evening. Unfortunately it was a bit too heavy and she managed to drop the black backpack onto the ground, some of the contents spilling out of it.

Zoey groaned and knelt down to gather up her books. What she hadn't seen was the shiny coin that her books had fallen on had made it's way into her backpack as she began stuffing the rest of her things back in the large pocket. "I just want this day to be over." She sighed to herself and straightened her legs out and began walking towards her new house.

Her house wasn't too far from Angel Grove High, so it was easy enough for her to just walk to and from school. She never had a car when she lived back in Philadelphia, she had always gotten rides with her older sisters or bummed rides off of her friends. Now Zoey had to deal with getting her license in California, and she thought that was difficult back in Pennsylvania. For now, Zoey was content with walking.

The driveway was empty aside from her mother's car, meaning her dad must have been at work. Zoey walked up the pavement and wandered in through the front door. "I'm home." She called out as she dropped her backpack at the bottom of the stairs before walking into the kitchen. There her mother stood, arm deep in countless boxes as she continued to put things back in their appropriate cupboards.

"Oh, Zoey. Is it really 3 o'clock already?" Claire Montgomery looked at her youngest daughter and smiled. "How was your first day of school?"

Typical first day of school. Except this first day was in California, not Pennsylvania.

"Fine, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Make any friends?"

If she could, Zoey would roll her eyes at the question. "I don't know, I sat with some people at lunch. It's a little early to say that I made any friends." When in reality Zoey was only planning on being in Angel Grove for at least one year. She really wanted to go to college back home with all of her friends. There was absolutely no way she'd want to stay in California for any longer than she had to. But when she looked up and saw her mother staring at her with a sad glint in her eyes, Zoey frowned. "They were nice. It just won't happen overnight, mom. Don't worry."

It was silent between the Montgomery ladies while Zoey got up and grabbed a can of soda out of the newly stocked refrigerator. They had been living off of take out since they moved to Angel Grove but it seemed her mother had gone to the grocery store earlier that day. "Provisions at last." Zoey said and her mother let out a laugh. "Yes, we no longer have to live on pizza and Chinese food. That'll surely disappoint your father."

Zoey smiled and told her mother she would be upstairs starting on her homework. Can of soda in one hand, she picked up the backpack from the bottom of the stairs and began the short trek to her room on the second floor. She had one side of the house to herself as her sisters were still on the east coast where they were attending Temple for their second year of college. It was hard not being near them, but she knew they'd be in California for winter break in December.

Opening the door to her room, Zoey placed the soda down on her desk and her backpack down on her chair. Her room was finally beginning to look relatively normal. She had emptied most of her boxes over the weekend and began to decorate. Pictures of her friends littered the small corkboard that hung over her desk, and an ombre purple tapestry hung on the wall her bed sided against. It wasn't much yet, but it was enough to make Zoey feel like she belonged here.

"Guess I better get this party started." Zoey said as she moved the backpack from her chair and sat down. Reaching through the bag she found her history and math books and placed them on her desk. They were the only two classes she had any actual homework in, and she wanted to tackle it before her dad got home for dinner. "Ugh. Don't tell me I lost my notebook already." She groaned as she turned her backpack upside down and shook it, looking for the seemingly lost notebook.

Falling out along with her notebook and a cluster of pens was a small coin. It caught the light coming in from her window and caught her eye. "You're not mine, are you?" Zoey said as she tucked a chunk of blonde hair behind her ear, picking up the coin and examining it. She had clearly never seen it before, let alone was completely confused as to how it ended up in her backpack. "Is that a dinosaur?" She held the coin closer to her eyes and squinted. Sure enough, it looked like a dinosaur.

"Where did you come from?"

The minutes ticked by and instead of starting her homework, Zoey sat at her desk staring at the coin. The only logical conclusion she came up with was she must've accidentally picked it up when she dropped all of her stuff at the park. Or maybe one of her friends had tucked it into one of her backpack pockets at school the previous year. After all there was that one time her best friend Maya had shoved candy bars in her backpack and forgot about them until that one really hot day. The chocolate stain would never come out no matter how hard Zoey tried to scrub it clean.

Finally she gave up on trying to figure out what the coin was and set it on her nightstand. Her homework needed to be done before dinner, she could worry about the mysterious coin later.

* * *

"Now class, I know it's only the beginning of the school year but it's time for your first project." Ms. Appleby chose to ignore the few protests and groans that emerged from some of her students. "I'm going to have you split up into groups of three and each group is going to have a different topic from the civil war. You can chose whatever you want. Battles, Generals, freedom fighters, I only ask that you brainstorm some ideas with your group for the remainder of this class and have me approve your topics before you leave for the day."

Adam let his chin rest in the palm of his hand as Ms. Appleby began assigning groups. "Tommy, Aisha and Kimberly, you'll be the first group." Adam's friends looked at one another and nodded their heads. "Zoey, I'd like you to be with Adam and Rocky."

That certainly caught Adam's attention. And seemingly it caught Zoey's attention as well. Adam saw Zoey turn around to see where her two partners were. Adam gave her a small wave and once Ms. Appleby was finished assigning groups, Zoey came over to join them. "Looks like you two are stuck with me, sorry." The blonde said as she set her backpack down.

Rocky shook his head. "More like sorry that you're stuck with us. History is my worst subject."

Adam nodded as confirmation. "He sucks at history."

"Hey!"

"Ouch!"

Rocky had punched Adam's shoulder again and Zoey laughed. It was the first time Adam had actually heard Zoey laugh since she got here. "Are you enjoying our awesome comedy duo? We were thinking of taking this show on the road. Maybe join a traveling circus." Rocky arched an eyebrow and Zoey smiled. "Nah. I think you'll be fine here. And you're in luck. I'm pretty good at history."

"Really?" Adam asked. It wasn't often you heard somebody aside from Billy say they were good at history. "I like history, I'm just really bad with remembering dates."

"I guess it comes with being from Philly. All those museums, I loved it. Now don't get me started on math, I'm terrible at that." Zoey opened up her notebook after the boys did. "So, what should we do this project on?"

Both Adam and Rocky looked at one another. It wasn't going to be easy picking a subject. But after a few minutes of coming up with ideas, they were able to dwindle the list down and ended up picking the Battle of Gettysburg. And they had no problem with getting Ms. Appleby's approval. "I'm giving all of you three weeks to finish this project. I want everyone in each group to contribute. Help research, write, brainstorm. And after those three weeks I'm going to have each group present their findings to the rest of the class. This group project is going to count towards half of your grade this quarter." Cue more groaning from various students in the classroom.

"Guess we should meet up after school and work on this. I need a good grade in this class or I'm toast." Rocky said when class was dismissed. "Should we just meet up at someone's house?"

Both Adam and Zoey nodded. "My house is out. It'd be too much of a distraction." Rocky said. "My brothers and sisters wouldn't leave us alone."

There was a slight pause. "I mean, I guess you can come to my house. It's not really a mess anymore, except we still have some boxes in the living room." Zoey wove her arms into her backpack straps and looked over at Adam. "If that's okay with you guys." And maybe it would make her mother happy to see her gaining a few friends. If that's what she would call Adam and Rocky at this point. They were nice enough, at least.

"Sounds good to me." Adam smiled at Zoey.

Letting her hair fall in her eyes, Zoey felt her cheeks warm up. Before she could think of what to say, Rocky let his arms hang over both Adam's and Zoey's shoulders. "Good then. How about the three of us meet out in the parking lot after school. I can drive us to Zoey's."

"But my house isn't that far." Zoey protested and Rocky shook his head.

"And you're forgetting that you got a ride to school today, Rocky." Adam interrupted.

Rocky groaned. "Ugh. That's right. Was due for my inspection so my mom dropped me off. Well then, change of plans. Since Zoey's house is _so far _away, we'll just meet out in the parking lot anyways and walk there. How does that sound?"

Zoey nodded and smiled at Rocky and turned towards Adam, who Zoey could've sworn saw his cheeks turn a nice shade of pink. "See you guys then." The blonde waved before she turned around and headed up the hallway to her next class.

Once Zoey was out of sight, Adam caught Rocky staring at him. "What?! Is there something on my face?"

Rocky raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Oh, nothing. Let's get to class, buddy."

* * *

With the last bell ringing for the day, Zoey made her way outside and stood near the edge of the parking lot waiting for Rocky and Adam. While waiting, she pulled her phone out of her backpack and saw that she had a new message from Maya.

_**Lunch is terribly boring without you. They got rid of the taco bar at school, surprised there hasn't been a riot yet. How's the Sunshine State?**_

Zoey smiled. It felt good hearing from Maya. They'd spoken twice since she moved to Angel Grove and with the time difference, it could get a little bit tricky.

_**It's nice out here. I miss home. But the weather is the best thing. Warm and sunny! Do you need me to send you some sun?**_ Zoey typed her reply and looked up to see both Adam and Rocky walking towards her, a grin on Rocky's face and Adam waving at her. She'll just have to call Maya later.

"And it's Friday! Bring on the weekend!" Rocky said as he stretched his arms behind his head. Adam stopped walking once he was by Zoey's side. "He's clearly quite the party animal."

The blonde smiled. "My house is over on Honeysuckle, so it's not that far." The three teenagers began walking, Rocky chatted enthusiastically about his day and managing to ace a pop quiz in English class. Adam was quiet, but from what Zoey could tell that was the way he was. Quiet and shy.

"It's probably better that you guys are coming over to my house today. My mom actually went to the store yesterday. So we have something besides leftover pizza in our fridge." Zoey said as the three set foot into Angel Grove Park. "There's nothing wrong with leftover pizza." Rocky said, frowning.

"No but if you're eating it for two weeks straight, I don't blame her for being sick of it." Adam interrupted and Zoey grinned. "You can read minds, I see." She wagged a finger at Adam and he laughed. "Sorry but that only happens on Fridays. Tomorrow I won't be so lucky." He said.

Rocky, Adam and Zoey were just at the edge of Angel Grove Park when something jumped out from behind a tree and stood in their way. Zoey stopped in her tracks and blinked in confusion. There was no other way to describe what stood before her but a statue had come to life and brought some of his friends along with him. At least ten of these clay-like creatures came towards the trio and Zoey felt herself freeze in place. Not by fear, but absolute confusion. "So California is really weird." The blonde said as she saw both Rocky and Adam get into a fighting stance.

"Putties!" Rocky quickly stood in front of Zoey. "I hate to say it this way but welcome to Angel Grove."

"Zoey, just stay back!" Adam shouted as one of the creatures ran towards him, Adam sending a swift kick to it's chest sending it to the ground.

"Where am I supposed to go? I can't just leave you two here!" She shouted, turning around quickly and sending her elbow into the gut of one of the putties. Rocky was able to trip another one before delivering a powerful kick, toppling a second one over.

One of the putties quickly advanced on Zoey, who managed to duck as it threw a punch her way. "Yikes!" She yelped doing a quick back handspring to avoid another putty. But it was useless, when she stood up straight, she could see more putties advancing towards her. "What is this?! Leave me alone!" She shouted out in frustration.

"Zoey!" Adam shouted once more, knocking down the last putty near him and ran towards her.

There was a forceful gust of air and chilling laughter and the appearance of more putties that managed to stop Adam and Rocky in their tracks. They were mere feet away from Zoey when they saw Goldar appear in front of their new friend. "I don't think so, pathetic human. You have something we want, so hand it over and maybe we'll let you go."

"What?!" Rocky yelled as he teamed up with Adam, taking down the rest of their putties. "She just moved here, you don't want her, Goldar!"

Zoey tried backing away but managed to bump into Adam's chest. Shaking her head, she couldn't figure out what it is this _Goldar_ wanted. There was nothing special about her, there was nothing she had that he could possibly want. Unless he had some sudden desire to take her coffee-stained backpack. "Oh no." That's when it hit her. That coin she found in the park yesterday, the one that fell out of her backpack. The thing she spent hours looking at last night instead of sleeping. Maybe that's what he was looking for. Not her ratty old backpack.

"He wants that coin." She breathed, Adam placed his hand on her shoulder as he looked down at her. "What coin?"

"I found this weird coin yesterday in the park. It somehow got into my bag. I found it when I got home." Zoey shook her head, putting her hand into her back shorts pocket and pulled out the coin. Rocky tilted his head in their direction and his eyes widened. "Adam. A new power coin."

Goldar stood there, laughing. "See! You do have it, puny human! Quit stalling and hand it over!" He began to advance on the trio, sword raised in the air ready to strike.

"Not so fast, Goldar!" A new voice appeared behind them and Zoey didn't even need to turn around to see who it was. The newcomers quickly ran towards them, revealing themselves to be Tommy, Kimberly, Billy and Aisha.

Zoey quickly stuffed the coin back into her pocket and began to back away once again. "This is getting too weird for me." She held her hands up in defense and took off running in the opposite direction. All she knew was she needed to get away from everyone. This day started out decent enough and just ended up rolling down a mountain and crumbling into pieces.

Tommy looked at Adam and nodded his head. "You go ahead after her. Get her to the Command Center, we'll meet you there." Adam firmly nodded and took off in the direction Zoey had run. His friends could easily handle this without him, for now he needed to make sure their new friend wasn't going to shut down on them.

* * *

It hadn't taken Adam long to find Zoey. She made it all the way to the square in the center of Angel Grove and was sitting on a bench. Adam slowly approached her and while he was afraid she'd run off at the sight of him, he took the risk and walked up to her. "Zoey?"

Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, Zoey looked up at Adam. She didn't say anything to him, merely stared up at him. "Is it okay if I sit?" He asked and she nodded, "It's a free country."

The pair could've easily sat beside one another in complete silence for the rest of the afternoon, but Adam knew they had a deadline here. "Back there, I'm sorry about that. It's just really hard to explain."

Zoey sighed, turning to Adam. "Can you try to? Explain, I mean. Because if this is how California really is, I'm going to transfer back home."

That was the thing, it was difficult to explain. All Adam could do was stand and have his hand outstretched towards Zoey. "I told you, it's hard to explain. But I'm supposed to show you." She eyed him curiously and before realizing it, her hand latched onto Adam's as he pulled her to her feet. "I know exactly how you feel right now, trust me. It gets better." Adam's smile made Zoey's chest tighten. She couldn't go through this again, she better not regret this.

"Let's go."

* * *

**Author's Note: This idea has been stuck in my head for about a year now and I finally had some time to get it written down. This is my first Power Rangers-related fic so please go easy on me. It'll get better from now on, promise! Once my schedule at work straightens itself out, I'm going to try and figure out a set-schedule on when to update this. Ideally, I would love to update this once a week, but let's face it, I'm terrible at it. For now, I'm going to shoot for every other weekend. If things go according to plan, I'll have the second chapter up by February 21st or 22nd.**

**Until then, please read and review~! Thank you to AvalonBay for giving me a slight little push of encouragement to get this posted!**


	2. Who Doesn't Love Steve Harvey?

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

* * *

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter Two -**

"You fools! How could you let her get away?! She's not even a Ranger! You could've easily taken the coin from her!" Lord Zedd was furious. Goldar had once again failed to obtain something Zedd was itching to get his hands on. The lone power coin that had resurfaced and ended up in the hands of a girl who wasn't even a Ranger.

Goldar knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. "My lord, I'm sorry. But the black ranger helped her escape. I didn't see where they went, the other power twerps made sure of that."

"No more excuses!" Zedd bellowed. "You're going to get me that coin. Even if you have to bring the girl with you. I'm sure we could use her to our advantage." Tapping his staff on the ground, Zedd thought about it. If he couldn't turn the girl against the rangers, then he would just use her as bait. Either way would be fine with him. As long as that coin was in his hands, he didn't care what he had to do to get it.

Goldar looked up at Zedd. "Tell me what I need to do."

"Get me that power coin. The girl will be a bonus. We can use her to our advantage."

Lord Zedd began laughing as Goldar got to his feet. "Yes, master." Bowing, Goldar turned and took off through a door.

* * *

"You know how I said California was weird? It's insane now. Or maybe I'm losing my mind." Zoey said when Adam led her through the doors of what he called the Command Center. He hadn't bothered to explain anything on their way there, which was for the better because Zoey probably wouldn't believe him anyways. Not that she didn't want to know what the hell was going on.

Once through the doors of the Command Center, Zoey stopped. Taking in her surroundings, she saw what looked like the set of a sci-fi movie. Consoles rounded their way through the room, lights flashing here and there. There were even columns that lits up at each corner of the room.

"Ay-ay-ay!"

Zoey's blue eyes widened when a robot not much shorter than herself approached the two of them. "What? WHAT?!" She pointed at the robot and Adam gently placed his hand on top of her's, lowering her hand down by her side. "That's Alpha. It's okay, he's completely harmless." Adam said with a smile and Alpha raised his arms in the air and shook his head.

"That's right, Zoey. You have nothing to fear." Came a new voice, and it definitely didn't come from the small robot. The blonde looked up and in one of the columns she noticed what was well, a floating head. She wanted to point her finger again but once more Adam stopped her. It must've been Friday because he could read her mind. "And that's Zordon."

Looking from Adam to Zordon to Zordon and Adam, Zoey opened her mouth but couldn't quite get the words out. Zordon seemed to sense her uneasiness and began to talk. "I know you're in a bit of shock right now, it's understandable. But there was something we were looking for, something that holds a great power that we need to make sure isn't used for evil."

Without thinking, Zoey reached into her pocket and pulled out the coin.

"Yes, that coin you found in the park yesterday. Do you know why you came across it?" Zordon asked.

"She was meant to have it." Came a familiar voice and turning around, Zoey saw Billy standing there. Alongside him were Tommy, Kimberly, Rocky and Aisha.

"I wasn't meant to have it!" Zoey shouted. "When my bag fell, I accidentally put the coin in it. I wasn't meant to have it." She threw her hands up in the air in front of her, shaking them as if she were trying to prove her point.

"The coin doesn't just present itself to anyone. There is something about you and you were able to find the coin that day. Why else would your bag have fallen on the ground like that?" Zordon asked and Zoey stood there for a moment and thought about it. There were only two books in her bag yesterday and while it felt heavy, her bag had been much heavier before and she never dropped it then. Maybe they were right, but Zoey wasn't quite ready to believe them. "Why me? I just moved here. I can't even tell you my phone number here because I haven't memorized it yet!"

There was a brief silence before Billy placed something in Zoey's hands. "It was hard for us at first, too. But it seems the Iguanodon coin chose you for a reason, whether you believe it or not." Zoey looked down at the object in her hand. "What's this?"

"Your morpher. The power of the Iguanodon has chosen you to be a Power Ranger. Place the coin in the center and you'll be able to transform into the Purple Power Ranger. Morphing enables you to control your stamina, last longer in battle." Zordon stated but Zoey interrupted him. "Battle?!"

Zordon began explaining things, the fight against evil and how the others became rangers. But let's be honest, Zoey wasn't entirely listening. She heard bits and pieces but she was more concerned over the fact that she had lost her mind. This had to be some sort of dream, not reality. "Is this real life?" She whispered to herself and shook her head. It couldn't be.

A phone began ringing loudly and realizing it was her's, Zoey took it out of her back pocket. Looking down at the screen, her father's number scrolled across the screen. "I-I really need to get going." She said and quickly pushed her way between Rocky and Kimberly, who unfortunately had been standing in her way.

Just as both Adam and Aisha were about to turn and follow after Zoey, Zordon's voice stopped them. "Let her go. For now, she needs to process all of this information. It's too much to take in at once."

"But she can't just be out there alone. With a morpher and no idea how to use it." Kimberly stood, arms crossed over her chest.

Billy placed a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Remember how we took the news. It wasn't exactly easy for us either."

"Precisely, Billy. It'll take time. For now, keep an eye on her. She'll come around." Zordon said, the rangers nodding in return. "We can't force her into this if it's not what she wants."

* * *

"Sorry dad. I had to meet up with my group to research our history project. I'm on my way home now." Zoey held the phone to her ear and walked as fast as she could home. If she ran, her father would hear her out of breath on the phone and would know she wasn't at school like she said she was.

When she did get home, her father was in his office talking on the phone with his brother. Zoey stood at his office door and waved hello before wandering up to her room. It was nearing dinner time, so Zoey knew that Maya would be home from school by now. This time difference thing was a pain.

Dialing her best friend's number, Zoey waited for her friend to pick up.

"Stranger danger!" Maya's cheerful voice hit Zoey's ear and she smiled.

"Maya!"

"You!"

"California is really weird." Zoey sighed, flopped down on her bed, letting her shoes fall off her feet and onto the floor.

There was a laugh on the other end of the phone. "You clearly know weird. Philly's full of it. Why? What's going on?"

It was probably best that Maya not know about what happened today. This seemed like something to be kept a secret. And while Zoey had no idea what any of it meant, there was something deep down telling her to keep quiet. "Nothing. I think the people are too nice here."

Instead of a laugh, there was a snort on Maya's end. "_Too nice_? Beats most of the people here. I think you'll do fine out there, little marshmallow." Zoey couldn't help but smile at the nickname. She had gotten it back in elementary school when she wanted to dress up as a marshmallow for Halloween. Needless to say, most people enjoyed reminding her of that and gave her the nickname of _little marshmallow_.

"It's not that, it's just.. I don't even know. It's just weird here. There's nobody here I know aside from my parents." Zoey let her arm rest over her eyes, blocking out the setting sun from her window. "It can only get better from here, right?"

"It better. You're out in nice weather. Shit, you live near the beach! You can actually go to the beach without having to pass through Jersey, or go to Delaware. Why didn't I just stuff myself into your suitcase and move out there with you?" Maya laughed. "So, any cute guys out there?"

Zoey groaned. She had been seeing somebody back home but broke up with him right at the end of May. Spend nearly a year with a guy and find out that he cheated on you with some girl he said was his 'cousin'. "After the whole He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fiasco, I really don't want to deal with that again."

"I had no idea you dated Lord Voldemort."

"Shut up! You know who I'm talking about." Zoey laughed and sat up in her bed when she heard her father call her down to dinner. "Hey, dinner's ready. I need to get going. Text me later?"

"You betcha, little marshmallow."

* * *

When Monday rolled around, everyone filed into their first period history class and took their seats. Adam had arrived before his friends, hoping to see how Zoey felt after Friday's sudden turn of events. She had stormed out of the command center so quickly, that Adam doubted she'd even want to talk to any of them again. But when Ms. Appleby walked into class, shutting the door behind her, Adam realized Zoey's seat was going to remain empty that day.

"She's fine. At least if something had happened with Goldar or Zedd, Zordon would've alerted us." Billy said once their day at school was over. Their group, minus Tommy and Kim, had met at Ernie's Juice Bar at their usual table.

Adam sighed, his chin resting in the palm of his hand once again. He couldn't help but wonder why Zoey hadn't shown up to school that day. Was she really that weirded out by what happened on Friday? She found out about the Power Rangers and the fact that there really were monsters in the universe who wanted to see the destruction of Earth? Adam remembered how it was hard for him to believe all of this when he was chosen to be a ranger and take Zack's place. Zoey had to be feeling the same way.

"Where exactly did Tommy and Kim go?" Billy asked as he finished his smoothie, setting the cup down on the table. "Eh, apparently Tommy had this whole date planned for Kim. Cue the smooching!" Rocky pretended to gag and held his face in his hands.

The four friends sat at their favorite table at Ernie's for a little while longer before Rocky stood up, stretching his arms out above his head. "Well, I hate to leave now but I promised my mom I'd babysit while she went to work." Billy nodded, also rising to his feet. "Yeah, probably should get a jump start on my chemistry project. See you guys tomorrow." Both Rocky and Billy waved to Aisha and Adam before walking out the side door.

"And then there were two." Adam said softly.

Aisha grinned at Adam, not saying anything. All she did was stare at her best friend.

"What's that look for?" Adam said nervously when he noticed Aisha's eyes on him. "It's creeping me out."

Rolling her eyes, Aisha stood up. "I just got a genius idea." She took hold of Adam's hand and pulled him to his feet. "You and I are going to Zoey's house. She told you where it was before, right?"

Adam blinked, slightly confused. "Yeah, but why? She's obviously avoiding us."

"We're going to change that. Say you're taking her the homework she missed from class today. She can't say no. So, you're not getting out of this one. Let's go!" Aisha gave Adam the chance to pick up his backpack and they too walked out the side door and outside.

It only took them a few minutes to reach Zoey's house. They hadn't been there before, but Zoey had mentioned where it was the other day before their run-in with Goldar and the z-putties. Adam stood at the foot of the driveway, his legs not wanting him to walk any further. If Aisha hadn't been there to push him along, he would still be standing at the end of Zoey's driveway. Like a statue. "Come on, Adam. It's fine. The girl isn't going to bite."

"Who knows. We probably scared her away."

Aisha groaned and once the pair stood on the front step, she rang the doorbell. "She might not even answer. It'll probably be her mom. Or dad. Then we'll find out she's probably sick and you're just imagining this entire thing. She's not going to answer the door."

As soon as Aisha was finished talking, the front door opened to reveal Zoey. "Or she could actually answer the door." Aisha whispered.

* * *

It's not that Zoey was avoiding everyone by not going to school that day, she really did have an obnoxious headache when she woke up in the morning. Her mom let her stay home, since it wasn't out of the ordinary for her daughter to get a headache that rendered her useless for hours.

But let's face it, Zoey really was avoiding everyone. She just wasn't going to admit it.

She didn't know how to deal with all of the new information thrust at her on Friday. Power Rangers. Monsters bent on world domination. Dinosaurs. Clay-like creatures who leap out of bushes and try to punch your face into the ground. But back in Philadelphia, these things obviously weren't normal. She also knew that she couldn't continue to avoid the others forever, as much as she wished it to be true.

Her parents had left for the day, leaving Zoey alone. Which was fine by her. She slept a little while longer in hopes that her head would feel better, and it did. When she woke up she wasn't sure what to do so Zoey turned on the TV. It was when she was in the middle of a Family Feud marathon, [who didn't love Steve Harvey?] when the doorbell rang. Sighing, Zoey got up and opened the door without even checking to see who was on the other side.

Not the smartest idea.

"Adam? Aisha? Uh, hi?" Zoey said, suddenly embarrassed for the fact that she was still in her pajamas. An old sweatshirt from her previous high school that stated _Frankford Cheerleading _and the purple sweatpants her sister Nora got her from Pink last Christmas. Not embarrassing at all. "Come in." Well, they already saw her in her pajamas, they might as well come in her house.

Adam and Aisha walked through the door and stood in the hallway. Once Zoey closed the door, she stuffed her hands inside the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "Is everything okay?"

Adam had been looking down at his feet when Aisha spoke. "We wanted to make sure you got your homework. I hope you don't mind us stopping by."

One of Zoey's eyebrows went up.

Aisha cracked just a little bit. "Adam here was worried. We wanted to make sure you were okay." Adam side-eyed Aisha and frowned.

Zoey shook her head, turning away from them and motioning for the pair to follow her into the kitchen. "I'm fine. If you think I was avoiding you guys, that's not entirely true. Just a little bit. But I was sick this morning." She stopped and motioned for Aisha and Adam to take a seat at the table. "Want anything to drink? We finally have something aside from bottled water and some suspicious green stuff in a jug."

Both took a soda and once the glasses were down on the table, Zoey sat down in a seat next to Aisha and across from Adam. It was only a matter of time before one of them, most likely Aisha, spoke about what happened on Friday.

"You probably don't want to hear this but, we know how you feel." Aisha said, trying to break the awkward silence that filled the kitchen. "It's hard at first, but you get used to it. It would be nice to have another girl on the team." Aisha hinted, grinning.

Zoey sighed. "But I'm not exactly a fighter. The most fighting I've ever done was when I got in that fight in elementary school because a girl took a bag of cookies from me. And she got what she deserved." Adam laughed and Zoey gave him a slim smile. "Though really. I used to be a cheerleader, but broke my wrist last year and I just never got back into it. Fighting obviously isn't my forte."

"But that's okay. I saw you back there with the putties. You held your own, and you can practice. Maybe we can show you some moves. We teach some classes at Ernie's and you're more than welcome to join." Adam offered but Zoey held up her hands. "I wouldn't be good at it. Trust me, you'd probably be much better off not having me on your team. I'd end up slowing you down."

Adam and Aisha turned to face one another when Zoey sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in and really, aliens and monsters really want to take over the world? Somehow it feels like I fell asleep with the TV on and I'm dreaming all of this."

The door to the garage opened and in walked Claire, grocery bags in hand. "Oh Zoey, I didn't know you had company over."

Zoey looked up and before she got the chance to even move from her seat, both Aisha and Adam got up to help Claire with the bags. "This is Aisha. And Adam. From school. They stopped by to give me some of the homework I missed today." Claire smiled and thanked the two teenagers for giving her a hand. "Well, wasn't that nice? And at least you're feeling better now. Looks like you'll be going to school tomorrow."

Adam caught Zoey rolling her eyes. "Yes, mom. I know."

"Actually, your father's going to be at work late tonight, so why don't Adam and Aisha stay for dinner? I got stuff to make tacos." Claire asked.

It was clear what her mother was trying to do. Get her daughter friends. Zoey had friends. Who were back in Philadelphia. Not in California. It was no use even trying to resist, her mother would just insist and this vicious cycle would never end. "They can, if they don't have anywhere else to be." Zoey looked over at Adam and Aisha, who both nodded. "We'd love to stay for tacos." Aisha grinned and Adam took a seat back down at the kitchen table.

Dinner wasn't as terrible as it had played out in Zoey's head. Maybe the tacos were talking, but Zoey may have actually _enjoyed_ it. And just maybe Aisha and Adam weren't so bad. Standing just outside her front door, Zoey waved towards the pair walking down her driveway. "Hey, just think about what we said!" Aisha shouted.

Would it be terrible if she did? What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Nearly a week went by without incident. No monster attacks. No clay-like creatures leaping out of bushes. Just loads of homework and project finishing. Zoey had spent a lot of time with Adam and Rocky finishing their history project and she could breathe a sigh of relief when they finished giving their group speech. Even Ms. Appleby seemed pleased with their research and presentation, they ended up getting an A. Rocky was the most excited about the grade. "This is awesome! Maybe I'll actually do well this year!"

Once school was over for the day, Zoey made her way to Ernie's Juice Bar. Adam had told her he was teaching a karate class that afternoon and she should stop by to check it out. But after five minutes of standing in front of the doors, Zoey had seriously considered turning around and heading home. The buzz of her phone shook her back to reality and she pulled it out of her pocket.

_**If I move out to California, can I live in your closet? **_

Maya had texted her and Zoey grinned. _**Why? No more pasta bar at school too?**_

While waiting for Maya's reply, Zoey took a deep breath and walked through the doors. Standing in the entry way to Ernie's, she could see that Adam was indeed teaching a karate class. Rocky was with him as well. The pair moved in sync, their movements so fluid that it looked like it would be fairly easy to follow. The others in the class looked impressed and easily followed along.

Zoey stood against the wide door frame and continued to watch the class. Her eyes lingered on Adam for a lot longer than she cared to admit and was thankful for the buzz of her phone.

_**No, thank god. Just want the California weather, it's been raining all day. **_

"Zoey! You came!"

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Zoey looked up to see Adam walking up towards her. His black tank top wasn't distracting the blonde at all. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry I wasn't here earlier. Had something to do."

Adam laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand. "It's okay. Just glad you came." The buzz of Zoey's phone distracted Adam. "I think someone's trying to get a hold of you."

Zoey looked down at her phone and it was just another text from Maya. "Oh, it's just from my friend back in Philly." Adam stared at her, which confused Zoey. "What? Did I say something weird?"

"No." Adam shook his head. "That was just the first time I didn't hear you say 'back home' when talking about Philadelphia."

_Oh wow._

"That's weird."

Zoey looked down and quickly looked back up to see Adam smiling at her.

"You know. I should probably get going. Sorry I missed most of your class, Adam. I promise to be here earlier tomorrow." Zoey said quickly and turned towards the front doors, taking off into Angel Grove Park.

Adam stood there, his arms hanging down at his sides. "Did I do something wrong?"

* * *

Zoey knew things were too quiet for way too long. She barely made it out of the park when she was confronted by the putties and Goldar. _Again_.

"Pathetic human! We meet again!" Goldar laughed as he stood in front of Zoey.

"Holy crap, can you just go away and leave me alone?!" Zoey yelled, tossing her ratty backpack down on the grass as she got into a fighting stance. "Seriously, what is with California?!"

Goldar laughed and pointed his sword towards the blonde. "You got away from us last time, and it looks like there's no one around to protect you now."

The sound of crunching grass behind Zoey got her attention and before she could turn around, she heard Adam's voice call out. "Goldar! What are you planning this time? Or what is Zedd planning? You're obviously not the brains behind everything."

Goldar growled and took off towards Zoey and Adam, sword still raised. Jumping to the side, Zoey turned in time to see Adam morph, that was the only word she could describe it as. He morphed into what she could only assume was a Power Ranger, not that she had ever seen one in person before.

Adam's axe raised above his head managed to keep Goldar's sword at bay. "Zoey! The morpher! Use the morpher!" He shouted and kicked Goldar to the ground.

The putties were getting closer now and as Zoey spun around, she couldn't see the others coming to help. "What do I do?!" Zoey punched a putty down before spinning around and kicking the legs out from underneath another.

"Shout out the name of your dinosaur! It's not that difficult!"

Barely getting the time to catch her breath, Zoey shouted, "Iguanodon!"

There was no way to describe the transformation other than Zoey felt as if she had twenty energy drinks and she had the ability to do more than a few cartwheels. "Power Nunchucks!" The nunchucks appeared in both of her hands and Zoey almost immediately swung at a pair of putties in front of her. "I have no idea where this came from but thank you!" She had no idea where the weapon came from, or even how she knew about it. Zoey was thankful for it.

The other rangers must've shown up shortly before because when Zoey turned to see how Adam was holding up, they were there. Aisha and Rocky were helping Adam with Goldar, Billy, Kimberly and Tommy were taking care of the rest of the putties. "Glad to see Zoey decided to join us!" Kimberly shouted as she sunk her foot into the stomach of a putty, letting it fall to the grass.

"I don't know if you should say that! I had to help Adam!" Zoey yelled as she swung around, punching the large 'Z' on the chest of a putty as it burst apart. Just because she was there fighting as a _Power Ranger_ didn't mean she was officially part of any team. Zoey didn't exactly sign a contract for this.

Goldar shouted out in annoyance when he had been cornered by Adam, Aisha and Rocky. Zoey ran over to join the others when the rest of the putties had been taken care of. "Just you wait, humans. I will be back. Don't get too comfortable now." He laughed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What was that about?" Billy asked as the group of teenagers stood around, clearly confused.

* * *

It didn't take any convincing on Adam's part to get Zoey to teleport back to the Command Center. Once they were all there, they demorphed and Zoey was the first one to approach Zordon with questions. "What is all of this?" She held up her morpher and shook it out in front of her. "I still don't get any of this."

Zordon smiled and nodded his head. "It's okay, you have questions. The power of the Iguanodon chose you to fight. You may not think you're worthy of it's power, but you are." Zoey looked from Zordon, to Billy and eventually, the others as well. "What if I screw up?"

"It's going to take time, Zoey. You don't need to worry about it. The other rangers are here for you, they will be more than happy to help guide you along the way." Zordon said and Zoey gave a small nod of her head.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We've all been in your shoes. You can count on us." Tommy said. Kimberly gave Zoey a bright smile and bounced on her heels. "So, what do you say?" Tommy continued with his hand outstretched towards Zoey.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her. She knew she had absolutely no experience in fighting evil monsters and aliens bent on taking over the world. All Zoey knew was, in front of her stood six people who had shown her nothing but kindness since she moved here. They never gave her a reason to not trust them, and were more than willing to help her transition into this new and strange life. "If you guys are willing to have me on the team, I guess you're stuck with me." Zoey took Tommy's hand and firmly shook it.

"Ay-ay-ay! Welcome to the team, Zoey!" Alpha shook his hands above his head and Zoey laughed.

"Another girl on the team! _Finally_! You need to come shopping with us soon!" Kimberly squealed as she pointed between herself and Aisha.

Billy walked over to the console and picked up something before handing it to Zoey. "We've had this for a while now, and since you're officially part of the team now... It's yours." He smiled and Zoey saw him place what looked to be a watch in her hand. "It's our communicator. The way Zordon can alert us if there's a monster attack. And we can communicate with one another." Zoey latched the purple-banded communicator around her left wrist.

Once the group was done celebrating, they stood around and listened to Zordon's theory on why Goldar seems to be so keen on getting his hands on Zoey. "We just need to keep an eye on for anything unusual, I'm sure that if you all stick together there will be nothing to worry about. Zedd and Goldar must think that if they got their hands on Zoey before she became a ranger, they would be able to mold her and control her like they did with Tommy when he first arrived in Angel Grove."

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows at the Tommy reference, but Billy and Kimberly quickly filled her in on it. "Oh, sort of gotcha."

"For now, just look out for each other." Zordon stated. "For now, go home and get some rest."

It seemed that Zoey Montgomery was the newest member of the Power Rangers.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Phew, the second chapter is done! Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter and to AvalonBay &amp; thunderyoshi for reviewing the first chapter! Since my schedule at work allows me to have Fridays off, I've decided to update with new chapters every other Friday! So that means the next chapter of Beginner should be up on March 6th. I'm going to do my best to keep up with this, so stay tuned! There are loads more planned, just glad to have most of the introductory stuff out of the way.**

**Don't forget to read and review!**


	3. Seven Teenagers and a Scavenger Hunt

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

* * *

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter Three - Seven Teenagers and a Scavenger Hunt -**

Being a Power Ranger wasn't as glamorous as one might've thought. Weird hours, weird monsters, almost always waking up with a sore something or other. Not to mention the first time she piloted her zord was a memorable one. "_I can barely parallel park a car yet you want me to pilot this thing?!_" But Zoey was working on that. The others were really understanding and had been helping Zoey get used to her new position. Adam, Rocky and Tommy had been showing her some new things in their karate class and while she wasn't great yet, she found herself enjoying it.

"You're doing much better, Zoey." Tommy said when the four of them sat down at an empty table at the Youth Center.

Zoey rolled her eyes and pulled her backpack onto her lap. "Thanks. I didn't manage to fall flat on my butt today. Just my face." Unzipping her backpack, Zoey groaned when she found the one inside pocket had torn. "Ugh. I really need a new backpack."

Rocky peered into Zoey's backpack and pretended to cringe. "What happened to that thing?"

"Shut up, Rocky. I've had this thing forever. I just need to sew it. _Again_." Zoey sighed and pulled out her chemistry book. "Am I the only one not ready for this test on Friday?"

All three of the guys shook their heads. "Hey! Maybe we should all study together?" Tommy suggested. "Doesn't seem like a bad idea." Adam said with both Zoey and Rocky nodding their heads. "Billy _has_ to help. I always had Maya back in Philly to help me with math and science, so any help I can get here is appreciated."

"Maya?" Adam asked curiously.

"Oh, she's my best friend. You know that friend you've had for as long as you can remember? That one who made you a cake for your birthday then ended up smashing your face in it? That's pretty much Maya. You guys would like her." Zoey said and Rocky wiggled his eyebrows. "No, not like that, Rocky. She would corrupt you, that would be bad."

When five o'clock rolled around, Zoey quickly tucked her chemistry book back into her bag. "Ugh. Mom'll freak if I'm not home by dinner. Sorry guys, see you tomorrow." Zoey waved at the guys and quickly took off.

Adam watched Zoey leave and looked back to Tommy and Rocky. "You know, there's still so much we don't know about her." Tommy raised an eyebrow at his friend. "What do you mean? She's only been here two months. Do you expect her to spill her deep, dark secrets to you right away?"

"Or it's because he has a crush on her." Aisha said from behind their table. She had just walked in with Kimberly and Billy. "Don't even try to deny it."

Adam had opened his mouth but quickly closed it. When he opened his mouth again, he groaned. "I _don't_ have a crush on her."

"Oh, crush on who, dweeb?"

There were Bulk and Skull. The Juice Bar was seemingly way too quiet without them and their antics. "You're not talking about that new girl are you? The cute little blonde?" Bulk said, wrapping an arm around Adam's shoulders. "Because she is definitely a looker." Skull nodded his head in agreement. Actually, he always agreed with whatever Bulk said, no matter what it was.

Brushing Bulk's arm off his shoulders, Adam frowned. "No. And no. I do _not_ have a crush on her."

"Liar." Aisha coughed, her hand went up to cover her mouth.

"Well, if you don't have a crush on her. How would you feel if I asked her out?" Bulk asked as he pulled out on his vest. Skull stood next to him and nodded his head quickly. "Yeah, how would you feel?"

"It doesn't matter. She wouldn't say yes." Adam said as he closed his chemistry book in front of him. It was clear he wasn't going to get anymore studying done today with these two around.

Kimberly leaned in towards Aisha and whispered. "Yeah, because she's probably waiting for a certain axe-wielding hero to ask her out first."

* * *

"You guys! I can't believe it's already time for the annual scavenger hunt!" Kimberly squealed with delight as their usual group gathered inside of the Youth Center later in the week. Kimberly had clapped her hands together just as Zoey and Aisha sat down at the table. "Scavenger hunt?" Zoey asked.

Kimberly perked up and nodded her head. "Yes, scavenger hunt. Each school in the county is given a list of things they need to find. So you have to go around looking for them and get everything on the list before the other schools do." Billy, Adam, Rocky and Tommy had also joined the others at the table once they made it to the Youth Center. "Oh yes, the scavenger hunt. Last year was fun." Billy said as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"So I'm an Angel Grove High scavenger hunt newbie, too?" Zoey groaned and let her forehead rest against the table.

Aisha laughed and patted Zoey's shoulder. "Don't worry, these two and I haven't done it yet, either." She pointed between Rocky and Adam just as Zoey lifted her head. "I don't feel so bad, then."

While waiting for their list, the ever-growing group of friends sat at a table in front of the bar where Ernie was working. It didn't take long for some entertainment to arrive, and that entertainment was named Bulk and Skull. "Oh my God, am I imagining this?" Zoey said as she was the one who saw them first. Everyone else turned their heads to see what Zoey was talking about and a few chuckles could be heard.

Bulk and Skull were standing there with a woman in a gypsy costume. It looked like they picked her up at the Halloween store on their way over to the Youth Center. Bulk smirked when he saw they had an audience. "You guys, this is gypsy Abalonia. She's here to help us find out who the Power Rangers are."

Zoey raised her eyebrows and looked over at Aisha, who wasn't even trying to hold back her laughter.

"Gypsy Abalonia? And just how is she going to figure out who the Power Rangers are?" Kimberly's arms were crossed over her chest when she spoke.

"That's easy. Her powers. She can sense where they are, and she'll eventually lead us to them. And then we'll know who they are before you dorks do." Bulk said in a smug voice and Skull nodded along with his friend. Completely normal for the two of them. Zoey hadn't been in Angel Grove long but she quickly came to realize that this was just how Bulk and Skull were. Completely crazy.

Billy shook his head. "I highly doubt gypsy Abalonia has any _real_ powers."

Gypsy Abalonia looked offended at Billy's response and turned towards him. "How dare you doubt the power of gypsy Abalonia!" Billy seemed unphased. "Look into my eyes." She bent down towards Billy and he immediately shook his head. "No thanks, I'm good."

Clearly displeased, gypsy Abalonia stood up straight and looked back at Bulk and Skull. "Come on then, let us begin our search for the Power Rangers!"

Then the dancing began. Bulk and Skull mirrored gypsy Abalonia's movements and soon enough, the pair ended up on the ground from dizziness. "Look into my eyes, boys!" Gypsy Abalonia tried to pull Bulk up to no avail. "I don't think I want to right now." Bulk groaned from his spot on the ground.

"My head hurts." Skull was spread out on the ground, eyes closed tight.

Rocky was grinning as he nudged Zoey with his elbow. "Yeah, looks like they're going to be sick."

"I am _not_ cleaning up after them." Zoey held her hands up in surrender.

Everyone got a good laugh out before things began to calm down. They were anxiously awaiting their scavenger hunt list from Ernie who was still working behind the counter. More like Kimberly was anxiously waiting for the list, she was bouncing lightly in her seat, stealing glances of Ernie before Tommy tapped her arm.

"How are we going to do this? Should we split up or go as one big group?" Tommy asked.

Now that Zoey was part of the group, the made their number uneven. Sometimes Zoey felt guilty, but more times than others, she was just happy to be making friends here. Not that she would ever admit that out loud. "Perhaps we should split up. I know we're uneven, so it'll depend on the list. If we have a lot of things, we can do groups of two and a group of three." Billy interjected.

"Hey guys, I got your scavenger hunt list here!" Ernie called out from behind the counter, waving a paper above his head.

"Got it!" Kimberly shouted as she bounced to her feet and retrieved the paper from Ernie. "Thank you!"

The group of seven gathered around the paper and Zoey could see there were a lot of things they needed to find. "Where do we have to look for all of this stuff?"

"All over Angel Grove. It looks like we should split up." Billy looked up and began picking the teams. "Zoey, since you're still new here, why don't you go with Adam." Aisha quickly nudged Rocky's arm with a grin on her face. "Aisha and Rocky, you two can go together. And that leaves me with Kimberly and Tommy."

"Yeah, he can make sure they don't make out the entire time." Zoey whispered to Adam, which resulted in him laughing loudly.

The group split up the list and within minutes, they went off in separate directions. Adam and Zoey stopped at the edge of the Youth Center parking lot and began looking through their list. "We never did anything fun like this back at Frankford."

Adam looked over at the blonde, shielding his eyes from the sun with his arm. "Why not?"

Zoey shrugged her shoulders. "Just couldn't. Philly's a big city, local or not you could easily get lost and end up in the wrong part of town. But hey, I get to do fun stuff like this here. And the weather's one of the best parts." It was the fall and Zoey still had shorts and a purple t-shirt that said '_I donut care'_ on. By this time in Philly, she'd be wearing boots and a few layers to school.

Adam had been holding the bag for the scavenger items, so he flung it over his shoulder as the pair began walking through the park. "One of the best parts? The weather's the best." Zoey nodded in agreement. "But I'm sure you'll eventually find something better than the weather out here." Adam said, leaving Zoey slightly confused. What did he mean by that?

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Everything out here is still new to you. I'm sure there will be something you like about Angel Grove more than the warm weather. Though that'll be a bonus." Adam said with a smile.

His smile made Zoey's voice catch in her throat and she wasn't even sure why. But seeing Adam smile was contagious and soon she was smiling too. Being around Adam felt easy for Zoey, so being his partner for the scavenger hunt was turning out to be more fun than anything. Not to mention he was easy to talk to. Soon they were talking about their families, Zoey found out that Adam was an only child and she expressed her jealously towards him for it. "I'm the youngest of three. Olivia and Nora are twins."

Adam shifted the bag on his shoulder. "I haven't seen them here at school."

"Oh, they're sophomores at Temple. They'll be here for Christmas but they're probably never going to move to Angel Grove." Zoey shook her head. "So I guess you could say I feel like an only child right now."

Eyebrows curiously raised, Adam turned to Zoey. "Well, you have me. I mean, all of us around. So you don't have to worry about being lonely." His cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as he turned to look forward. Zoey missed the faint blush due to shielding the sun from her eyes and gave him a small smile. "I appreciate that. But I don't know how long I'm going to be here."

What Zoey had said made Adam stop in his tracks. Zoey stopped as well and saw the look of confusion on his face. "It's not that I don't like it here. But I had planned on going to college back in Pennsylvania. Nothing's set in stone." She whispered and began walking again. She turned around so she was walking backwards and waved for Adam to catch up. "Life works in mysterious ways! Who knows what'll happen!" Adam began jogging to catch up to the blonde. "Maybe the weather will keep you out here?" He asked and she grinned.

"Yes Adam, the weather." The pair smiled at one another.

If they were going to find everything on their list in time, they needed to move quickly. Out of the ten items they had to find, they only had three more to go. Which was good because their bag was starting to fill up pretty quickly. "What's next on the list?" Adam asked.

Zoey held up the list and squinted. "Only three more it seems. We need a photo of an out of state license plate!" Zoey jumped up and down. "My parent's cars still have their Pennsylvania plates on them! They're getting the California ones this week." Zoey quickly latched onto Adam's hand and took off in the direction of her house.

Thankfully, her mother's car was sitting in the driveway. "This works!" She said quickly while snapping the picture of Adam posing next to her mother's car. "I knew there was a reason we hadn't switched over to the California plates yet." Adam smiled.

Zoey looked down at their list and frowned. She was having a difficult time seeing the words on the paper properly. Blinking her eyes in an attempt to get them to refocus, she could feel Adam's eyes on her. "What's wrong?" He asked her and she shook her head.

"It's nothing. My eyes are bugging me, I think I'm just tired."

_Liar._

"Want me to read them? I'll still carry the bag since it's getting pretty heavy." Adam offered and Zoey reluctantly handed him the sheet of paper. "At least let me take the bag, Adam." But he refused with a wide smile on his face. "No can do, sorry. The gentlemen never makes the lady carry the bag."

They spent the next fifteen minutes finding the remaining items on their list when suddenly their communicators went off. Since Adam's hands were full, Zoey held up her wrist and activated her communicator. "We're here, Zordon."

"Zoey. Adam. It seems like your teammates have been attacked in Angel Grove Park. Lord Zedd has stolen Billy's toy cannon and turned it into Cannontop and he is attacking citizens in the park." Zordon's voice projected itself from Zoey's communicator. "Meet the others at the center of the park, they need your help. And be careful, Cannontop has the ability to send you into the lost dimension. Keep an eye out for one another."

Zoey looked over at Adam who quickly nodded. "We're on it, Zordon." Adam said as both he and Zoey took off running in the direction of the park.

* * *

"I knew this day was going too well!" Kimberly shouted when the putties had arrived and stole Billy's toy cannon. "Now we're never going to win the scavenger hunt."

The arrival of more putties quickly distracted Kimberly, Billy and Tommy. And while it was easy to take the putties down, they just kept coming. When Tommy would kick one to the ground, another one would jump down from the trees and take it's place. "What is this?!" Tommy yelled when he sunk his fist into the chest of yet another putty.

"And why did Zedd want my cousin's toy cannon?" Billy shouted before doing a back handspring, knocking a pair of putties down in the process.

The trio held their own against the putties before a monster stood before them. And it looked exactly like the cannon that was stolen from Billy. "That may be why they took the cannon, Billy." Kimberly said with a disgusted look on her face. "Can't Zedd come up with something more original? Gross."

"What the hell is that?!" Came a voice from behind the trio. All three turned around to see Zoey and Adam standing there. "Zoey! Did you just swear?!" Kimberly asked.

"Shit, sorry! Sorry!" Zoey yelled just as Rocky and Aisha arrived.

Tommy shook his head and stood at the front of the group. "Come on guys, it's morphin' time!"

"White Tiger!"

"Triceratops!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Mastodon!"

"Sabre-Tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Iguanodon!"

Morphing was still a strange thing for Zoey, but it was something she was slowly getting used to. However, seeing monsters attack the city she now lived in almost constantly was something she would never get used to. She would probably never get used to being a Power Ranger.

"Guys, be ready for anything!" Tommy yelled just seconds before Cannontop shot at the rangers. They flew through the air, their bodies making rough contact with the ground beneath them. But they managed to pull themselves up and just as they got back to their feet, Cannontop flipped around a device on his arm to reveal another cannon in his arsenal, blasting it towards the rangers again.

Tommy rolled and quickly got to his feet. "Is that all you got?" He taunted and Cannontop was clearly not amused. "Don't worry, because your luck is about to run out!"

Behind Tommy, Rocky appeared and came up with a quick plan. "How about we just fight fire with fire?" He looked around and the other rangers quickly nodded in response. "Let's put our weapons together!"

"Power Axe!"

"Power Bow!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Nunchucks!"

"Power Sword!"

With their ultimate weapon now put together they sent a blast of energy towards Cannontop in hopes that would be the end of him. And the odds seemed to be working in their favor, that was before Lord Zedd had anything to say about it. This was the part Zoey always hated, monsters growing to the size of a skyscraper. And just when she got used to her Iguanodon zord, Zordon had informed her that she needed an upgrade to her zord so it would be compatible with the others. It was all another language to her and when Zordon told her she was going from the Iguanodon zord to the Pegasus Thunderzord, she had no complaints.

"We need Thunderzord power, now!" Tommy shouted and within seconds everyone had called forth their zords and they began piecing themselves together to form the Thunder Megazord.

"Mastodon Lion Thunderzord Power!"

"Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord Power!"

"Triceratops Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

"Sabre-tooth Tiger Griffin Thunderzord Power!"

"Iguanodon Pegasus Thunderzord Power!"

"Tyrannosaurus Red Dragon Thunderzord Power!"

"White Tiger Thunderzord Power!"

Once the Thunder Megazord was put together, the rangers all sat in their respective seats. Yet another thing Zoey wasn't used to. She hated driving a car yet here she was piloting a giant robot to save her new home in Angel Grove. "I can't believe you guys trust me with this!"

"So you crashed your go-kart once! It takes practice!" Aisha said from the other side of the cockpit.

"Oh, Power Rangers! How would you feel being blasted into the lost dimension?!" Cannontop yelled as he fired yet another shot at the Thunder Megazord, but the rangers were able to move out of the way in time.

"Everyone! It looks like Zedd was successful in opening the lost dimension. We have to be careful!" Billy said and everyone else nodded.

Cannontop laughed and revealed another cannon pointed towards the rangers. "Lord Zedd will be pleased with me! With you all getting sucked into the lost dimension, there's no way for you to escape!"

"I don't think so!" Tommy shouted and with a quick nod towards Kimberly, she had the arm of the Thunder Megazord lift up and ready to launch her Firebird Thunderzord at Cannontop. "I beg to differ with you, we've got a scavenger hunt to win!" Kimberly yelled and launched her Thunderzord at Cannontop.

Cannontop wasn't able to move fast enough and when he was hit by the Firebird, he quickly burst into flames before falling over. "And I was so close, too!" He groaned out in frustration before blowing up in a ball of smoke and fire.

"Whoa. That shows just how much Kimberly wants to win this scavenger hunt." Rocky said from his seat next to Zoey. The rangers all laughed at the joke while Kimberly nodded in her seat.

* * *

"What?! No! How could this have happened?!" Lord Zedd shouted when he stood up off of his throne. He pounded his staff against the ground, causing Goldar to kneel before him and bow his head in defeat. "I don't know what happened master, those pesky humans should've been blasted into the lost dimension!"

"And they should have! No sooner did I open the lost dimension did they defeat my monster! This is ridiculous!" Zedd pounded the staff against the ground one more time and looked back at Baboo and Squatt, who had been chuckling behind his back. "If I didn't know any better, I would say all of this was your fault!"

Baboo and Squatt yelped and quickly took off out of the room. "But my Lord! We're so sorry! It wasn't our fault! It was Goldar's!"

"Silence!" Lord Zedd's voice boomed and immediately the room got quiet.

"When the time comes, we will defeat those Power Rangers. And their new ranger will be the key to their destruction." Lord Zedd laughed. "Zordon, just you wait!"

* * *

"Glad we were able to get everything back that the putties took. Maybe we'll actually win the scavenger hunt this year." Kimberly bounced on her heels when the group finally made it back to the Youth Center and greeted Ernie. "We just need one more thing." Zoey said as she pointed to the last thing on the list. Adam peered over her shoulder and read, "They're the colors of the rainbow and they fight villains to save our city. A picture of them is all you'll need."

Ernie looked up at the teens and snapped his fingers. "That's got to be the Power Rangers!"

Kimberly nodded eagerly and asked, "You don't happen to have a picture of them do you?"

Thinking about it for a few seconds Ernie said he had one in the back. "Hang on a second. Let me go get it." When he came back with a picture of the Power Rangers, Kimberly quickly grabbed it and with the three bags full of items in tow, she led the group towards the judges table. "Thanks, Ernie!" Zoey smiled as she was the last to join the group at the table. Ernie smiled in response as he watched the group of teenagers move to the judges table.

The rangers stood there as the pair of judges began sorting through the pile of stuff. At first it didn't seem like they had a lot, but seeing everything spread out on the table, Zoey could see just how much stuff was there. A whistle, the picture of an out-of-state license plate, a picture of Kimberly and Billy standing next to a red car, and a dustpan were among the things littered all over the table in front of them.

The female judge looked down at her clipboard and turned towards the male judge. The pair nodded at one another and the woman spoke up, "Looks like Angel Grove High won this year's scavenger hunt!"

Naturally, Kimberly was the first to begin jumping up and down. "Yes!" The pink ranger went around and hugged everyone and when she reached Zoey, she gave her a warm smile. "I'm so glad you were on our team." Zoey returned the smile and hugged Kimberly. "Thanks, it was fun." It wasn't that Zoey was at a loss for words, she just hadn't expected to enjoy this scavenger hunt so much.

"Maybe we can do this again next year?" Zoey asked and she could see Kimberly's face light up.

"That would be great!"

"They're here!" A female voice boomed from the entryway of the Juice Bar. Everyone in the room looked up to see Bulk and Skull standing there with gypsy Abalonia. "The Power Rangers are definitely here!"

Bulk and Skull looked around the room. When gypsy Abalonia stopped in front of Kimberly, she waved her arms out in front of her. "They're right in front of us, boys!"

The rangers looked at one another. But it was Adam who rained on Bulk and Skull's parade. "What? The Power Rangers are here. See?" He held up the photo Ernie had given them for the scavenger hunt.

Bulk seemed to be at a loss for words and Skull began to sulk. The pair looked at gypsy Abalonia and groaned. "You're right, but it's a _picture_ of the Power Rangers! They're obviously not here." Bulk pointed his index finger at gypsy Abalonia. "You're fired!"

"But, but!" Gypsy Abalonia retorted and shook her head. "I could've sworn they were right here! This can't be right!"

Maybe gypsy Abalonia really did have powers.

* * *

"Have a good night, sweetheart!" Mrs. Campbell waved to her daughter Aisha as she walked down the driveway. In an attempt to get to know Zoey better, Aisha had suggested that the two of them plus Kimberly have a sleepover. Zoey had volunteered her house and Aisha was looking forward to visiting her house for the first time since she had been there with Adam. When Aisha stepped onto her friend's front porch, she rang the doorbell.

Opening the door, Zoey stood there with a grin on her face. "I figured you'd get here before Kimberly." Stepping aside, Zoey opened the door further to let Aisha in.

"Is that Aisha?" Claire Montgomery yelled from the kitchen.

"Hi, Mrs. Montgomery." Aisha said with a cheerful smile as she dropped her stuff down at the bottom of the stairs. "I'll take your stuff upstairs, hang on." Zoey quickly grabbed her friend's bags and headed upstairs.

While Zoey had been upstairs, Aisha wandered in the kitchen to find Claire setting her phone down on the counter. "How are you doing, Aisha? Hopefully you like pizza because I just ordered some for you girls."

"I don't trust anyone who doesn't like pizza." Aisha nodded her head and Claire smiled.

The doorbell rang again and after bouncing down the steps, Zoey answered it to reveal Kimberly. "I'm not late, am I?"

Zoey shook her head and let Kimberly in. "Nope. Aisha's in the kitchen. Do you want me to take your stuff upstairs?"

Wandering into the kitchen, Kimberly stopped and saw the family photos that had lined the wall to the living room. "Nah, you can do that later. Now you can just point out all of these interesting family photos to me! Please?" The brunette teased and Zoey groaned, rolling her eyes.

Claire held her hands up and laughed. "That's all Zoey, I'm not getting involved. She'll be mad if I show you all of her pictures." Zoey crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "It's fine. It's not like you hid these pictures or anything. Out in plain sight for the whole world, mainly Kimberly, to see." Claire shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room to continue reading her book.

Kimberly stuck out her tongue and turned back to the pictures on the wall. They were mainly school pictures of Zoey and her older sisters Nora and Olivia, but there were a handful of others in there as well. There were pictures of Nora and Olivia with their old field hockey team, a cluster of baby pictures and that's when Kimberly saw something that made her turn towards Zoey. "You were a cheerleader?!" The brunette pointed at the blonde.

"What? Yes. Is that so hard to believe?" Zoey's eyebrows furrowed together and Kimberly shook her head. "No. I was just curious to know why you haven't tried out for the squad at Angel Grove."

There were many reasons why Zoey hadn't wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad. One, she was in an accident the previous year that resulted in her breaking her left wrist. She had been out of commission for over a month and just never got back into cheerleading. Two, she wanted to persue other things at Angel Grove High, and that didn't necessarily mean she wanted to cheer the football team on to victory. That's what she did back at Frankford High. Zoey was looking forward to a change of scenery.

"I want to do dance theatre at Angel Grove." Zoey stated as a matter of fact.

Aisha raised her eyebrows and Kimberly began to slowly nod her head in approval. "From having music class with this girl, I know she can sing. But that just means we need to see you dance." She jerked her thumb towards Zoey and Aisha nodded quickly in agreement. "How come you didn't tell us this stuff?!"

Zoey shrugged. "I don't know. There's stuff I don't know about the two of you. Like how Kimberly and Tommy ended up together. And when _you_ discovered you have the hots for a certain guy named Rocky." Zoey wagged her finger teasingly and Aisha felt a blush creep up her cheeks.

"Hey! I do _not_ have a crush on Rocky!"

"Uh huh, sure." Kimberly and Zoey said in unison. Grinning at one another, the blonde and brunette quickly gave each other a high-five.

The doorbell rang and soon after, Claire came into the kitchen holding two boxes of pizza in her hands. "Hopefully you girls don't mind me taking a slice or two of your pizza. I don't feel like making anything for myself tonight."

Kimberly and Aisha shook their heads. Zoey grinned in Aisha's direction as she whispered, "You were saved by the bell." Aisha winked and waved her right hand in front of her. "Thank you for the pizza, Mrs. Montgomery!"

After eating dinner the trio headed up to Zoey's room to watch _The Walking Dead_, but didn't get too far into it since Kimberly expressed her extreme disgust towards pretty much everything in the show. "It's just a TV show, Kimberly!" Aisha exclaimed and Kimberly would just shake her head. "Can't we just watch _America's Next Top Model_ or something?"

Zoey sat on the floor at the foot of her bed and looked over at Aisha and Kimberly. "What if Tyra Banks was on _The Walking Dead_?"

"I think she'd give Daryl a run for his money." Aisha nodded and Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Gross, guys. Give me the remote!"

Not that Zoey would imagine this happening in a million years, she was actually enjoying being in Angel Grove, California. She was beginning to make friends, her grades had been improving since last school year and her sister's were coming for winter break in less than two months. Now if only Aisha and Kimberly would stop fighting over the remote control. "Ouch! That fell on my foot!" Zoey yelped and quickly snatched the remote away from her friends.

Maybe Angel Grove wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**Author's Note: Another update! And yes, I know this series took place in the 90's but I've decided to have it take place in the present day. It's something that I'd have a lot more fun writing this way.** **Thank you to AvalonBay, BadWolfBabe, brankel1 and Zombie Donut for reviewing the previous chapter! Chapter 4 will see the return of Maya and the conclusion of the sleepover. Plus other things! Don't forget to review, please~ Thank you for reading! The next chapter should be up on March 20th!**


	4. Mirror of Regret

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

* * *

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter Four - Mirror of Regret-**

Mario Kart was a tricky game to play. Most people think it's an easy to play, but there's more to it than just winning. You have to have a strategy to win. You can't just expect to win your game by just _racing_. If you get those banana peels, use them. Mess up whoever's behind you. Just make sure you don't slip on those banana peels during the second lap. It's happened to everyone that played the game at one point.

But most of all, it was just fun to play.

Adam laughed as he flipped his Wii controller to the side as he finished the race in first place with King Boo. Rocky swore when Tommy quickly raced ahead of him, resulting in the Red Ranger ending up in last place.

"It's because I'm playing as Peach, isn't it?" Rocky asked. "Because let's be honest here. I should've gone with Wario like Tommy did."

Tommy shrugged his shoulders and stretched his arms out in front of him. "I'm getting tired. Think it's probably time to head home." The three friends gathered at Adam's house earlier that evening and had intended on doing mainly homework and studying, but they got distracted by the Wii. Which wasn't out of the ordinary. Most of their evening was spent playing Mario Kart or seeing who could get the best score in Wii bowling. Turns out Rocky is the best virtual bowler.

"You're right. I promised Maria that I'd take her to see a movie tomorrow." Rocky said as he also stood up along with Tommy. Maria was Rocky's youngest sister, and possibly Rocky's biggest fan. "Something tells me I'm going to see a Tinkerbell movie."

"But those are your favorite." Adam said when he walked towards the TV and flipped the off switch on the Wii system.

Rocky turned towards Adam and narrowed his eyes. "You promised you wouldn't tell anybody." His eyes suddenly widened and he grinned. "Okay, now that Tommy knows my little secret, I'll just have to kill him."

"I'd like to see you try." Tommy swung his backpack over one shoulder and Rocky did the same. "Maybe next time we'll actually get some studying done. But who am I kidding?" Rocky said when they climbed the basement stairs and walked towards the front door.

"See you guys later!" Adam waved to his friends as he watched them walk down his driveway. Now all Adam had to do was clean up the popcorn littering the basement floor then call it a night.

Once Adam got settled into bed, he turned off his bedroom light. He was just about to roll over onto his side when his phone lit up the room. Squinting his eyes, he reached out and held the phone up to see who it was. It wasn't a call, but a text from Zoey.

_**Fun fact: Kimberly hates The Walking Dead.**_

The message made Adam grin. He almost forgot that the girls were having a sleepover that night at Zoey's house. To be honest, he was surprised Rocky hadn't mentioned crashing the sleepover earlier in the evening. Adam began to type his response with the grin still spread across his face.

_**Can't believe you got her to watch that. I haven't even watched it yet.**_

After Adam hit send, he set his phone back down on the nightstand. Almost immediately after closing his eyes, he could tell Zoey had responded by the light once again filling his bedroom. Without hesitation, Adam tapped on his phone to read the newest text.

_**That's it, then. You &amp; me. Walking Dead marathon. **_

Just as Adam was about to reply, another message appeared from Zoey.

_**If you can handle it, that is.**_

Sure, Adam wasn't the first person to line up and see any movie with flying limbs and brains oozing out everywhere. But that didn't mean he didn't like gory movies. Or TV shows for that matter. It wouldn't hurt to spend a little time with Zoey. Would it?

_**You're on.**_

With Adam's reply sent, he set his phone down on his chest. But after a few minutes of no response, he quickly typed another one up.

_**How's the sleepover going?**_

Setting his phone down on his chest again, Adam stretched his arms out over and behind his head. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long for Zoey's reply.

_**It's fun. Bugging Kimberly about Tommy. Ate too much food. Felt like I was playing 20 questions with these two. They keep asking me questions. Are they the FBI? Because I don't want to go to jail.**_

Adam laughed and shook his head. Aisha had always been that way. Sometimes too curious for her own good. Always asking questions. But really, Kimberly was the same way. This new girl was suddenly thrown into their lives so of course they wanted to know a little more about her.

_**Like what? Purple's your favorite color?**_

Maybe purple wasn't Zoey's favorite color, Adam was just guessing.

_**Shit, how'd you guess? Oh wait.**_

_** Seriously, every question under the sun. I'm surprised they didn't ask me when my birthday was.**_

Obviously purple was her favorite color.

_**When is your birthday?**_

It didn't hurt to ask. Maybe Adam would feel some sense of accomplishment in finding out her birthday before anyone else. Not that it really mattered.

_**September 23. Please don't tell anyone else. I don't want anyone to go crazy.**_

That was next week. Zoey's birthday was next week.

_**My birthday present to you will be watching The Walking Dead with you. How does that sound?**_

But it was Zoey's response that made Adam smile.

_**I'd really like that.**_

* * *

_They were only going out for a quick snack. It was 9 o'clock at night on a Friday when they decided to go out and find some ice cream. It hadn't been Zoey's idea but she wasn't one to turn down ice cream so she agreed to go along. She had spent the entire evening working on her art project. Dried paint splotches riddled her clothing and all she wanted to do was take a break. And when he came over and asked if she wanted ice cream, it was the perfect opportunity._

_ She picked out her favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip and once they got in the car she smiled. When she looked over at the guy sitting in the drivers seat, she saw him pick up his phone. "What are you doing?"_

_ "Texting my mom back."_

_ "Come on, you're driving. I'll text her back for you."_

_ "No! Shit, Zoey. Just no!"_

_ He was always like this. At least the last few months. Mainly avoiding her, being really secretive. So when he asked her if she wanted to go out tonight, she thought everything would go back to normal. Of course it was too good to be true. It barely lasted an hour._

_ What she didn't see was any of this coming. She lifted her head just in time to see the light in front of them turn red and their car not even begin to brake. "Watch out!" Zoey shouted before she felt the impact and blacked out._

Zoey woke with a start and sat straight up in her bed. Her breathing was heavy and she felt the sweat cover her forehead. Looking around the room she saw Kimberly and Aisha there, fast asleep. She hadn't woken them up with her nightmare.

She almost constantly had this dream. It was the accident she was in last year when her ex-boyfriend had decided to text and drive, causing them to crash into a delivery truck. Zoey ended up in the hospital with a concussion, broken wrist and some cuts on her face. She tried to shield herself with her arm, causing the broken wrist. But if she hadn't shielded her face, the damage could've been worse. Her ex-boyfriend had gotten lucky, barely a scratch on him. To this day it angered Zoey that he could do such a thing and get away barely touched yet she didn't do anything wrong and ended up in the hospital for a few days.

Once her breathing began to steady itself, Zoey let her head fall back onto her pillow. She just had to try and think of something else to get her to calm down and fall back to sleep. If she distracted herself, hopefully she wouldn't dream about it again.

How could someone do that to somebody? Lie, cheat, nearly get you killed? Zoey was not her ex-boyfriend's biggest fan for obvious reasons. And even though this happened over a year ago, it still haunted her.

Zoey threw her blanket over top her head and grabbed her phone off her nightstand. She found herself reading through the messages between Adam and herself earlier that evening. She even caught herself a few times typing back a reply but quickly deleting it. There was no sense, Adam was asleep. And Zoey didn't want to wake him up.

When Zoey did manage to fall back to sleep, her phone was on the bed next to her.

The next morning saw the girls getting up after 10 and getting ready to go out shopping before noon. Most stores didn't open until noon, but the day was still nice enough out that they just wandered around.

"I need to go to Sephora." Kimberly said as she checked the time on her phone. "Not that I need anything there. But I need to go there."

Aisha and Zoey looked at one another. "You don't need anything yet you need to go?" Aisha asked and Kimberly stuck out her tongue.

The girls spent the afternoon shopping and even had lunch together.

"So, who were you texting during _America's Next Top Zombie_ I mean, model, last night?" Aisha wiggled her eyebrows at Zoey and the blonde quickly tucked her phone into her purse.

"Nobody."

"You're a terrible liar, Zoey Montgomery."

Zoey groaned at Aisha as Kimberly smiled. "Please don't use my full name."

"Tell me your middle name and I'll definitely use your full name." Aisha grinned.

"Nice try."

The girls laughed and somehow, Aisha and Kimberly dropped the subject. They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and telling stories. Kimberly telling Aisha and Zoey about her early days as a ranger and how they would've loved being around Trini, Zack and Jason. Aisha had told the girls stories about Rocky and Adam with her back at Stone Canyon. One time Rocky started a food fight in the cafeteria but hated wasting the sandwich he had on his plate. Aisha may have 'accidentally' dropped it on his head.

Zoey was enjoying the time she spent with Aisha and Kimberly. Maybe another sleepover in the near future wasn't out of the question.

* * *

Rocky and Adam spent their Monday afternoon after school teaching a karate class at the Youth Center. They'd volunteered their time on Mondays and Wednesdays to help teach classes, but that didn't mean they didn't help out on other days. Occasionally Tommy would join them, but today he decided to play basketball in the park with Kimberly and Billy. Aisha and Zoey had been sitting at a nearby table half-paying attention to their friends, half-trying to do their homework.

Both Aisha and Zoey had looked up from their work when they heard some arguing going on. One of the boys had been shoving another student for accidentally bumping into him. "Come on, small fry! Watch where you're going!" The older boy said.

The younger boy, whom the girls remembered as Shawn, just frowned and backed away from the bigger boy. But when Shawn accidentally bumped into the boy again, their voices got louder. "Geez, you're never going to get it. Why don't you just give up?"

"Hey." Adam's voice boomed and immediately the boys turned their attentions to their teachers. "You need to lighten up. The way you're acting is not how you should handle things." Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "Shawn wasn't trying to knock you over. Give him a chance, Butch."

Butch frowned and stared at Adam. "Whatever. With him on our team, we aren't even going to make it to the finals."

It was Rocky's turn to speak up. "And with an attitude like that, we don't have a team. You need to learn to work together."

That didn't make Butch happy. He continued to glare at Shawn and when class was finally dismissed, everyone could breathe a sigh of relief. Adam was able to stop Shawn before he walked away, so he patted his shoulder. "It's going to be okay, you know. When I was your age, I was the smallest and weakest person in my class. Everyone always made fun of me."

"Really?" Shawn looked up at Adam with his eyes wide. "I can't imagine you being the smallest. You're good at what you do."

Adam nodded his head. "You have to practice. Once you practice, you'll get there. When you begin to believe in yourself, the others will too." Shawn nodded up at Adam.

"Do you mind helping me practice? I don't want the team to fall behind because of me." Shawn asked quietly.

Of course Adam couldn't say no. That's just the type of person he was. He was going to stay with Shawn as long as it took to help him feel better about his kata skills. "No problem, Shawn. Let's start from the beginning of today's lesson. Just watch and follow me."

While Adam and Shawn were on the other side of the Youth Center working, Rocky had joined Zoey and Aisha at their table. The girls had since given up on trying to finish their homework and were content with watching the pair practice in front of them. "What time is it?" Zoey asked and Aisha looked down at her watch. "Almost 4. Why?"

"Crap. My audition's in 15 minutes. I need to get going." Zoey quickly gathered her things into her backpack and picked up her dance bag. Today was the day of her audition for dance theatre at Angel Grove High. They were putting on a production of Carmina Burana and if she got in, Zoey would be dancing _and_ singing in a few of the sets. Dancing was the one thing Zoey loved doing back home. Her parents signed her up for all sorts of dance classes from tap, jazz and the occasional hip hop class.

"Go, go, go!" Aisha shooed Zoey away from the table before both she and Rocky wished her good luck.

Zoey turned to catch Adam's eye and gave him a quick wave.

Adam waved and mouthed '_Good luck_' before seeing Zoey quickly run out of the Youth Center with her two bags in hand.

* * *

Back on the Moon base, Lord Zedd had been standing at the balcony when he came up with what he thought was a great idea. "So, I see the black ranger has terrible memories of being ridiculed and picked on as a child. Now he's trying to help another pathetic human try to better himself."

Goldar stood behind Zedd and stayed quiet. When Zedd continued, he found himself facing Goldar. "Now we can use this information to our advantage, Goldar! Somehow we need to show him just how weak he really is!"

"We need to remind him of his weaknesses, my Lord." Goldar reminded Zedd and both nodded.

"The Mirror of Regret, we need to get our hands on it and pay our dear Adam a visit. Can you at least do this right, Goldar?" Zedd asked and Goldar bowed his head. "Of course, my Lord. I will not let you down this time."

* * *

Adam and Shawn were working diligently in the Youth Center with Rocky and Aisha watching on. It was fairly quiet until Hurricane Bulk and Skull appeared and made too much noise. "I'm sure we can help Shawn practice." Bulk said as he held up a How to Karate book in front of his face.

"Uhm, upside down." Aisha waved her finger towards Bulk and he didn't seem to understand that he had been holding the book upside down. "Nevermind." Aisha shook her head. Rocky tapped Aisha's shoulder and jerked his thumb towards the now empty doorway. "We should probably get going. I told Tommy we'd be there in 5 minutes."

Aisha stood up as she gathered her schoolwork and picked up her backpack. "Hey, Adam. We're going to meet the others at the basketball court. Do you want to come along?" Rocky stood up as well, pushing his chair in underneath the table.

"I'm good right now. I'm going to stay here with Shawn for a little while longer. Later, though." Adam waved as his friends left the Youth Center. But that meant he was stuck with Bulk and Skull. The pair had been twirling around the room, attempting to perfect their 'karate moves'. But all they were doing was causing enough chaos and proving to be an obnoxious distraction to Shawn who couldn't keep his eyes off of them. "Let's go to the park. It'll be quiet out there." He eyed Bulk and Skull to emphasize the quiet part.

"Well geez, excuse us."

* * *

Zoey could breathe a sigh of relief when her audition was over. It had been nerve-wracking to say the least but she made it through. After she changed into her jean shorts and purple crop top, she ventured to the park where the others had been playing basketball. It was only natural that her purple hi-tops began to unravel so she plopped down on a bench and began to tie them.

"Zoey!" Kimberly said as she bounced her way towards the bench. "How'd your audition go?"

The others slowly began to wander over, stating that they needed a quick break anyways. Rocky sat down on Zoey's other side and looked up at Aisha. "I think we need to get her shoes that don't tie."

Zoey narrowed her eyes at the Red Ranger before she turned towards Kimberly. "I think it went fine. But they won't let everyone know until Friday if they made it or not." She shrugged her shoulders once she finished tying her shoe. Looking around she saw Billy and Tommy standing not far in front of her, bouncing a basketball on the ground between them. But Adam wasn't there. "Adam's not here?"

Billy shook his head when he caught the basketball in his hands. "He's supposed to meet us here soon. Aisha said he was still helping Shawn."

"Poor Shawn. He'll get there eventually." Zoey sighed and finally the group of six ran out to the basketball court and began playing.

* * *

When Adam had finished up his kata practice with Shawn, he realized it was getting late and he still promised the others he'd meet them at the basketball court. Shawn said he needed to head back to the Youth Center so his parents could pick him up and thanked Adam for helping him out.

Picking up his bag, Adam began walking towards the basketball court. The sun was going to set soon, so he wanted to at least get a little game time in before it was completely dark out.

Unfortunately, Goldar had other plans. He had appeared in the park with a cluster of putties. "Black Ranger! Just the human I was looking for!" Adam quickly tossed his bag down to his side and easily defeated the handful of putties that had joined Goldar on his trip to Earth. "What do you want Goldar?" Adam said as Goldar quickly began swinging his sword around, causing a small dust storm to form around him. Adam held up his arm to shield his eyes from the dust, but wasn't able to keep himself from inhaling it. "Ugh!"

When the dust began to clear, Goldar stood before Adam with a wide mirror in his hands. It looked like one of those mirrors you'd see in somebody's grandmother's house. Old gold frame that probably hung up in a dining room somewhere. "What are you planning now Goldar? I don't have time for this!" Adam shouted but Goldar laughed. "Just look into the mirror and you'll understand, Black Ranger!"

He didn't want to, but Adam found himself looking at the mirror. Instead of seeing his reflection now, he saw himself when he was younger. When he was smaller and everyone had made fun of him for being weak. The scene unfolding before his eyes was that one time he tried out for the soccer team at Stone Canyon Elementary. Everyone at tryouts had been chosen but him, and he was immediately pushed to the side for the bigger, stronger players. Adam began to sulk but quickly shook his head. "I'm not watching this anymore!"

Goldar continued to laugh and with a wave of his hand, two more putties appeared and took hold of Adam's arms. "Now you're not getting away, human! There's much more for you to see! And then your confidence will shatter and you'll be destroyed!"

Adam struggled and when he wanted to tear his eyes away from the mirror, he found himself continuing to look at it. It was like a train wreck that you just couldn't tear your eyes away from. The next scene was when he stood on the sidelines holding the soccer ball in his hands. His younger self asked the blonde boy who approached him if he could join their team but the blonde boy just laughed. "No Adam, you're just a little pipsqueak! Nobody wants you on our team!"

If it was Zedd's wish for Adam to lose his confidence, he was slowly getting what he wished for.

* * *

Zoey had been laying on the basketball court once their game ended. She was terrible at basketball, maybe because of her short stature. Actually she was terrible at almost every sport out there. But that didn't stop her from enjoying the game. Tommy stood before her, hand outstretched for her to latch onto. When she did, he pulled her up to her feet. "Nice game, guys."

But then their communicators went off.

The teenagers looked all around them to make sure nobody was around before Tommy answered the call. "We're here, Zordon."

"Rangers. Adam's under attack on the other side of the park. It looks like Goldar is using the Mirror of Regret to shatter Adam's confidence." Zordon's voice echoed through Tommy's communicator.

"What?!" Zoey yelled but Aisha quickly swatted at her friend's arm to get her to be quiet.

"Lord Zedd also sent down a new monster to Earth. Skelerena is just outside of the park attacking Angel Grove citizens. I need you all to go take care of that." Zordon stated but it was Kimberly who spoke up first. "What about Adam? We need to help him!"

"No, Rangers. I'm sure that Adam will be able to handle Goldar and the Mirror of Regret on his own. For now, I need you to go take care of Skelerena. I believe in you, Rangers." Zordon's voice cut out quickly and Tommy looked towards the others. "I know, guys. We have no other choice."

"Just hang in there, Adam." Zoey whispered as she, along with the others, whipped out their morphers. "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Iguanodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"White Tiger!"

When the rangers arrived on the other side of the park, there stood Skelerena. It looked to be a hyena-type monster terrorizing innocent citizens of Angel Grove. Which seemed to be the norm for Angel Grove. New day, new monster attack. "A hyena skeleton? Is that the best Zedd can come up with?" Aisha groaned and quickly lept out of the way of a putty attack. The rangers quickly became surrounded by putties and while putties were normally easy to defeat, they were struggling with them today.

"Is it just me, or are they a lot stronger this time?" Zoey asked as she dodged a punch from a putty, flipping backwards next to a tree.

Billy managed to kick one putty in the stomach, knocking it down. "Affirmative. Something seems off about them."

"Or we got weaker, but let's face it. That's a no." Kimberly sassed and narrowly avoided being knocked to the ground by a pair of putties. "Maybe not. I'm still saying no, though."

"Ah hah! Rangers! Are you having a difficult time defeating Lord Zedd's putty patrolers? That's so pathetic of you. If you can't defeat them, how are you ever going to defeat me?!" Skelerena cackled, his arms waving in the air as he shot a blast of energy towards the rangers.

"Yikes!" Aisha shouted as the blast hit all of them, sending them flying in the air.

"Of all days to forget to pack my parachute!" Zoey shouted when her body firmly hit the ground with a loud thud. That was definitely going to hurt later.

"Come on, guys! We can do this!" Tommy shouted and eventually, the others began to get back on their feet. These putties shouldn't be stronger than they usually are. And the Rangers could easily defeat them. Like Adam, they too needed to regain their confidence and overcome the putties and eventually, Skelerena.

It was Rocky who took the first set of putties down. Spinning in the air, his feet quickly knocked the wind out of the two, sending them tumbling down the nearby hill. "Two down! See ya later!" He waved to the fallen putties and ran to help his friends.

Aisha and Zoey had teamed up to take down their putties. Aisha stood at the bottom of a tree, taunting a putty as he got closer to her. "Come here you big buffoon. I have something I want to show you." When the putty got closer, Zoey quickly jumped out of the tree, landing on the it's shoulders. "Oh hey there! Didn't see you!" She grinned, using her elbow to knock the putty on the side of the head, sending him to the ground. "Sleep tight."

Billy and Kimberly easily took down the putties that had surrounded them. Using his legs, Billy tripped one putty causing it to tumble down and take out a few more in the process. "Strike!" Kimberly shouted as she gave Billy a high five.

A roundhouse kick was all Tommy needed to finish off the last of the putties. They were never the brightest, so when they realized they were outmatched, the remaining putties took off in the opposite direction. This caused Skelerena to shout in anger. "How dare you actually beat them! But that's okay! I know you won't be able to defeat me without your little friend!" Skelerena laughed, knowing full well that it was going to be hard to defeat him without Adam around.

"We really need Adam's help, guys." Tommy breathed.

* * *

Goldar's laughter echoed in the air around Adam. He was taunting Adam, making sure he felt completely useless. "You shouldn't even be a ranger! You're weak! And you know it!" Goldar's cackle caused Adam to shut his eyes tight. He had to try and ignore the negative things being said. It's what he did as a child. He learned to ignore it and better himself. When he started karate, he wasn't the biggest or strongest kid there. But that didn't mean he wasn't good at it. With practice, he got better and eventually had to confidence to teach others to do the same.

He gained the confidence to become a Power Ranger.

When Adam looked up at the mirror, what he saw made his eyes widen. It wasn't Adam in the mirror, but it was Shawn. He must've been back at the Youth Center, because he could see him practicing what Adam taught him earlier in the park. And his young protege seemed to grasp what he was taught. Not once did he fall, not once did he show disappointment in his face. Shawn had worked on his kata and gained the confidence he was looking for.

The scene in the mirror began to fade and focused on what Adam could assume was the fight happening across the park. There was Zoey, easily holding her own against a horde of putties. He remembered how Zoey said she wasn't meant to be a Power Ranger and that her fighting would just slow their team down. But from what Adam saw before him, her practice was certainly paying off. "Zoey. Shawn. Thanks to you two, I know I can pull through this!"

Seeing Shawn's confidence along with Zoey's made Adam shake off the two putties that were still holding onto his arms. "Sorry Goldar, but it looks like your plan backfired again."

"What?!" Goldar looked down at the Mirror of Regret and saw Shawn practicing his kata with ease. "How did that get in there?!"

"Looks like Zedd's going to be angry with you again." Adam smirked as he did a back handspring when the putties began to approach him. "This shouldn't be too difficult." As the putties closed in on him, Adam quickly launched a kick that sent one to the ground. "Thanks for keeping me company, but you can go home now." Adam turned and sent his fist to the chest of another putty, his limbs flying off in different directions.

Once the putties were defeated, it was just Goldar who stood in Adam's way.

But of course that didn't last long, Goldar quickly retreated with the Mirror of Regret still held tightly in his arms. "Stupid Ranger! Don't worry, we'll see each other again!"

Adam didn't have long to catch his breath before his communicator went off. Zoey's voice reached his ears when he activated it with his free hand. "Adam! We really need your help! We're on the other side of the park and Skelerena is kicking our asses!"

Kimberly's voice was heard in the background chastising Zoey for swearing again when Adam quickly took off in their direction. "I'm coming, guys!"

Adam ran towards the basketball courts, where the others were. When he reached the top of a hill, he saw them fighting Skelerena over the horizon. "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Mastodon!"

Holding up his axe, Adam was able to deflect a blast that was sent in Zoey's direction. "Sorry guys." Everyone was happy to be reunited with Adam, now knowing they could hopefully defeat Skelerena. "Had a little detour getting here."

"Adam!" Zoey exclaimed as she got to her feet after being knocked down before Adam's arrival.

Rocky patted Adam's shoulder. "Glad to have you back, buddy. But for now, we have this bag of bones to deal with."

The seven rangers stood in a line and Zordon alerted them of the newly created Power Canon that Alpha had been working on. "Rangers, Alpha has finally finished work on the Power Canon. Gather your energy into this and you should easily be able to defeat Skelerena."

"Right!" The rangers shouted and gathered around the Power Canon.

Each ranger put forth their energy into the canon and aimed towards Skelerena. "Locked on!" They shouted as Skelerena laughed.

"What's this little toy going to do? Give me a paper cut?!" Skelerena cackled and doubled over from his own laughter. But as usual, one of Zedd's monsters underestimated the Power Rangers. When the beam of energy shot from the canon and hit Skelerena, it was over. "Ouch! No! This is much worse than a paper cut!" Skelerena cried out before toppling over on the ground, his body bursting into flames.

"Guys, why does it smelled like fried chicken out here?" Rocky questioned and everybody else groaned.

* * *

The next day after school, the group of friends sat at one of their usual tables at Ernie's in the Youth Center. They had been intently watching Rocky and Adam's class, their students had been practicing their kata and were doing quite well. But that wasn't the part that stood out the most. It was Shawn who stood towards the front of the group, confidently moving his arms and legs, not once falling over his own feet. And once Shawn was finished with his kata, the biggest smile appeared on his face. It was easy to see just how proud he was of himself.

Aisha had her hands clasped together as she looking on. Kimberly could barely contain her applause and didn't even try to tone it down. Billy sat there, nodding his head in approval with a similar smile on his face to Shawn's. And Zoey quickly flashed a thumbs up in Shawn's direction.

When Tommy joined Rocky and Adam, they noticed Butch approach Shawn.

And it seemed like the whole class fell silent.

What they thought was going to be another confrontation where Butch demeaned Shawn for being weak, turned out to be something much better. Butch held his hand out for Shawn to shake, which the younger boy eagerly took. "You were awesome out there, Shawn. How'd you do it?"

Shawn's cheeks flushed and he looked over at Adam before turning back to Butch. "I just practiced. And had a lot of encouragement."

Adam had his hands resting on his hips when he heard Butch say, "I'd be glad to have you on my team any day." And while the class had been quiet before, they were definitely loud now. They could hear a chorus of, '_Great job, Shawn!_' and '_Can you show me how to do that?_' floating through the class and Adam couldn't help but smile. Because not only had he been able to gain his own confidence back, he was able to show Shawn to be confident in himself. And if he continued to practice, who knows, he could give Adam a run for his money one day.

"If Shawn practicing worked for him, then now we can finally keep up with the Power Rangers!" Bulk shouted from the doorway. He and Skull walked to the middle of the room and the students stood back to make room.

"Be our guest." Adam shrugged his shoulders and let Bulk and Skull stand on the mat in the middle of the floor.

Skull looked at Bulk and both teenagers nodded as they stood back to back. "If we can keep up with the Power Rangers, we'll be able to find out who they really are!" Bulk stated and turned towards the crowd. As he turned around, Skull accidentally kicked his legs out, knocking Bulk flat on his face. "Watch it!"

"Watch what? Oops!" Skull turned around to see where Bulk was and saw him on the floor. "How'd you get down there, Bulk?"

Bulk groaned and reached out and took hold of Skull's ankle, sending him crashing to the floor as well. "How do you think I got down here, you dolt?!"

Skull managed to prop himself up onto his elbows and looked over at Bulk. "What? Was there an earthquake or something?"

* * *

Today had been a very long day. And while all Zoey wanted to do was kick her shoes off in the laundry room and call it a day, she couldn't. There was still some homework left to do that her audition and Ranger-duties prevented her from finishing earlier. Of course that wasn't going to last long because as she sat at her desk, her laptop made a ping noise alerting her that she had an incoming Skype call.

Maya's name flashed onto the screen and Zoey immediately accepted the call.

And for what seemed like the first time in months, Zoey saw Maya's face grin on her screen. "Little marshmallow!" Maya waved to the camera and brushed a large chunk of black hair from her forehead.

"Maya! Did you cut your hair?!" Zoey pointed to the screen. The last time she'd seen Maya, her hair was much longer, almost down to her waist. But now it was just an inch or so below her shoulders. "You didn't tell me you cut your hair yet you freaked out when I dyed my hair purple last year!"

"Well yeah, because you didn't tell me and I thought there was an alien sitting next to me at lunch." Maya winked at Zoey. "But not really. I wanted unicorn hair, too. You're just more majestic than me."

"I like it, anyways. Suits you." Zoey said and closed her math book. It was obvious that her homework was just going to have to wait for the morning. "What's up?" The blonde asked because it was obvious her best friend hadn't called just to remind Zoey of the majestic unicorn she once was.

"Well," Maya began to speak, "Your birthday's next week. And I may have sent you a present today. I just wanted to warn you before you find this giant box sitting on your porch thinking I shoved a car in it or something. Because let's face it, you're not the best driver out there."

"Hey!"

"I miss your stupid face, Zoey."

There was a knock on Zoey's door that interrupted their conversation. When the door slowly slid open, it was Zoey's father that stood in the doorway. "Hey, kiddo. Oh, is that Maya?" Her father asked from the doorway. Looking up at him, the blonde nodded.

"Hi, Mr. Montgomery!" Maya's cheerful voice filtered through the speakers on Zoey's laptop.

Logan Montgomery faintly smiled at Maya and turned towards his daughter. "Zoey, we need to talk."

_Zoey, we need to talk_.

* * *

**Author's Note****: And another chapter finished! I started this one way later than intended because my life can be so off the wall lately. But after a few days, I was able to finally get this together for everyone. I know 'Mirror of Regret' happens before 'Scavenger Hunt', but that was obviously changed around a bit. Next chapter will see some Adam and Zoey beginnings and even some Billy and Zoey interaction! I'll try to have the next chapter up around April 3rd! Thanks for reading this chapter! Stay tuned for more. :)**

**Thank you to AvalonBay, brankel1, BadWolfBabe &amp; Jimmyle311 for reviewing the last chapter! And Jimmyle311, there will be something like that happening in a future chapter so no worries! Keep an eye out for it!**


	5. Reckless Challenge

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

* * *

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter Five - Reckless Challenge-**

This was going to be one of the nights when sleep was going to pass Zoey by. They didn't happen that often, but when they did, she was always a bear the next day. Extremely grumpy, wanting nothing to do with the rest of the world. If she could build a blanket fort on her bed and never come out, she would. And no matter how hard she tried to fall asleep, it wasn't going to happen. She tried turning on her TV, but with nothing other than infomercials and _I Love Lucy_ on she didn't have much of a choice.

"_I Love Lucy_ it is." Zoey murmured to herself as she let the remote flop back down on her bed.

Zoey grew up on shows like _I Love Lucy_. Her mother almost always had this on TV along with _Bewitched _and _I Dream of Jeannie_. So in a way, seeing Lucy plot her next whacky scheme with Ethel was oddly comforting.

When the blonde rolled over onto her side to check the clock, she saw it was nearing 4 in the morning. "Ugh. I guess two hours of sleep is better than none." If she could even fall asleep.

Which she somehow did. When she did, Zoey had no idea because before she knew it her alarm was blaring in her ears. Reaching out to turn it off, she accidentally knocked the clock off of her nightstand and to the floor. "Wonderful." She picked the clock back up and stood up. Six in the morning and it was still dark out, this was going to be a wonderful day.

If only she could just go back to bed.

School wasn't much better. A pop quiz in math class resulted in Zoey wanting to crumble up her paper and throw it across the room. But she didn't, detention was not something she saw in her future. It had been raining for most of the day but when it came time for gym class, the sun was shining brightly and Zoey had to go outside and run a mile for her test. The sun really couldn't have waited a little while longer? When the final bell rang for the day, Aisha had approached her and asked if she'd like to go to the Youth Center with the others.

Zoey calmly shook her head, stating that she just wanted to go home and take a nap. If she could get home and manage to forget about the previous evening and today, she'd be much happier. So bidding goodbye to Aisha, Zoey headed for her house. The second she set foot in the front door, her backpack tumbled to the floor in an disheveled heap.

Plopping down on the sofa in her living room, Zoey debated on just staying there or going upstairs to put more comfortable clothes on. She decided that if she didn't change clothes now, she probably never would. Grabbing a clean pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that had been hanging on her door, she quickly got changed. Once changed and back down on the sofa, the blonde began to stare at the wall in front of her. Her parents had to go back to Philadelphia for a family emergency, and while they wished to take Zoey along, she couldn't miss too many days of school. When things begin to calm down, she'll fly out to Philadelphia.

For now, Zoey sat in her living room and slowly fell asleep.

It wasn't until a few hours later that the sound of the doorbell jolted Zoey awake. Blue eyes struggling to focus, she finally saw that the wall clock read 7:30pm. Had she really been asleep for over three hours? There was no way she was going to be able to sleep later. Again.

The doorbell rang again and Zoey sluggishly made her way to the front door. "Coming, coming." Her voice was still thick with sleep, though when she opened the door she was almost surprised to see Adam standing there.

"Adam?" The palm of her right hand began to rub at her eye to try and drive the sleep away. "What're you doing here?" Only the second time he'd been to her house and both times he caught Zoey in her pajamas. How incredibly attractive.

"Thought maybe you'd be hungry?" The dark haired boy lifted his right arm to show he had been holding a plastic bag. "Aisha mentioned your parents weren't home tonight, so I figured you might want something to eat?" That bright smile appeared on his face and naturally it began to tug on Zoey's heartstrings.

It was a nice gesture, and if Zoey hadn't been an emotional mess on the inside, a smile the size of Alaska would've appeared on her face. Instead, she stepped aside and let Adam come in the house. Closing the door, Adam followed her into the living room where she'd been camped out since coming home from school.

"Sorry, I kind of fell asleep earlier and am clearly a slob." She gestured to the pile of blankets that had been half hanging off the edge of the sofa haphazardly. Her backpack had been sitting on the floor untouched since she had come home. Thankfully she didn't have any homework that day. Even if she did have homework, there was no way it'd get done today.

Adam smiled and set the food down on the coffee table. "I'm not complaining."

It was nice having Adam there, it just meant that Zoey didn't have to be alone with her thoughts. She hadn't divulged information on why her parents had to fly back to Philadelphia for a few days, and she didn't even want to tell anyone. Aisha had asked her what her plans for later were and Zoey just casually mentioned that her parents needed to fly back home and that Zoey planned on being lazy and staying in.

As long as Zedd didn't have any nasty ideas.

"A little yellow bird told me you liked Carmello's." Adam said as he began pulling food out of the plastic bag. "Their cheesesteaks are great, but you obviously get the real deal back in Philly." Carmello's had been Zoey's favorite place to eat since arriving in Angel Grove and the food Adam had pulled out of the bag smelled wonderful.

While Adam continued to talk, and without realizing what her body was doing, Zoey reached out and wrapped her arms around Adam. It was an involuntary move, but one that the blonde wasn't going to regret performing. She just hoped that her sudden movement wasn't going to unnerve Adam.

The move obviously startled Adam as he wasn't expecting it, but he gladly reciprocated and wrapped his arms around Zoey's shoulders. "What's this for?" He asked just before the pair broke apart.

Shaking her head, Zoey gave him a faint smile. "I just really needed that." Her voice came out in a whisper and she knew that continuing to speak now would only lead to her crying. And that would also lead to explaining what was wrong, which now wasn't the time. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Adam returned the smile.

The pair sat there and ate their dinner. And as per Zoey's earlier suggestion, they actually began watching _The Walking Dead_. "This is the worst thing to be watching while eating." Adam commented and when the pair locked eyes, they just shrugged it off and began laughing.

There were limbs flying all over the place, mass amounts of gore and blood and the frequent appearance of zombies trying to eat people. "If I have nightmares tonight, it'll be your fault." Adam said when they finished another episode. It was getting late, Zoey only realized because Adam kept checking the time on his phone. "Sorry, it's late. You probably want to go home." Zoey mentioned as she stood up to begin cleaning off the coffee table.

"Late, yes. Is it terrible to say I'm having fun?" Adam looked up just as Zoey turned to him. "And yes, I'm enjoying _The Walking Dead_."

"See, I knew you'd like it. Even with the blood and guts everywhere." Zoey nodded her head and raised her arm towards the TV. "It makes me really want a crossbow. Can I be Daryl when I grow up?"

Adam turned to Zoey. "Sorry but you two look nothing alike. You're much prettier than he is."

_You're much prettier than he is_.

Those sudden words caused Zoey to blush and when she turned towards Adam, he too had a deep shade of crimson appear on his cheeks. It was clear those words had slipped out of his mouth but he didn't make any movement to reverse them.

"I'd hope he wasn't prettier than me. He's covered in dirt." The blonde's voice came out in a whisper. But it was clear that Adam was too embarrassed at his choice of words. He needed to break out of his shell and Zoey only hoped to nudge him in the right direction.

So she leaned forward and lightly pecked his cheek. "Thank you."

The blush kept itself on Adam's cheeks and he gave Zoey half a smile. That was until she reached forward and began to ruffle his hair. "You're so cute when you blush." The half smile turned into a full blown one and emitted laughter from the black ranger. "There we go. I like hearing you laugh. You should do it more."

"Me? You need to laugh, too. You've been quiet all day." Adam said as the pair broke apart. Zoey sat next to him, her legs tucked in underneath her. Of course Adam would be the one to notice her strange mood all day at school. She just hadn't been in the mood to talk. Everyone had their off day, so why couldn't today be her off day?

"Just tired. Miss my sisters. It's weird being all the way out here and I haven't seen them since the summer." Zoey shrugged her shoulders. Christmas was coming up so Olivia and Nora would be flying out to visit, but they wouldn't be out in Angel Grove for long. "But I'm really glad you stopped by, Adam."

"Me too." He smiled before he continued. "Should we watch more _Walking Dead_ or pick something else?"

For a change of pace, they switched from _The Walking Dead _to reruns of _Family Guy_. But it wasn't too long before Zoey felt herself getting tired again. The last thing she remembered besides Stewie plotting world domination once more, was that she let her head rest on Adam's shoulder before falling asleep.

Adam hadn't realized Zoey had fallen asleep until he looked down at his shoulder. Her eyes were closed and she slowly began to curl up against his side. He couldn't help but smile at the sight and wanted to stay that way just a little bit longer. But it was getting late. Tilting his head slowly to the side, he pressed his lips against the top of Zoey's head. She was fast asleep, and wouldn't remember any of this, which was fine. Adam wouldn't dare let Zoey know that he may just have a little crush on her.

Once another episode of _Family Guy_ was over, Adam knew it was getting late and he should probably head home. He shifted slightly on the sofa, and his movement stirred the blonde awake.

She rubbed her eyes and blinked up sleepily at Adam. "How long was I asleep?"

Adam shook his head. "Almost an hour. But you should probably get more sleep. I'm getting pretty tired, too."

Zoey smiled and when she realized just how late it was, immediately jumped to her feet. "Holy shit! I didn't mean to keep you here all night!"

It was Adam's turn to smile as he lightly patted the blonde's elbow. "It's fine. I wasn't ready to leave anyways.

Another smile appeared on Zoey's face just as Adam stood up. "Should we set up another date?"

It only took her two seconds to realize what she'd just said. "I mean, time to continue our zombie marathon. That show isn't fun watching alone."

Either Adam didn't catch what her original question contained, or he just chose to brush it off. "What about Friday?"

"You're on. But I get to pick what we eat."

* * *

The rest of the week went on without much of a hiccup. Zoey's parents were still in Philadelphia and would be coming home sometime over the weekend. For now, she was keeping herself busy by finishing her homework and fighting off putties whenever Zedd sent them to Earth. Monster attacks seemed to be down to a minimal lately, and that worried the Rangers. Something must've been going on, and they didn't have to wait for very long to find out what.

When Friday afternoon rolled around, the Rangers had planned on meeting up at the Youth Center. Adam had arrived shortly after Aisha, Rocky and Billy, so he pulled out a vacant chair and sat down. "Kinda thought I'd be the last one here." Adam looked down at his watch and saw it change over to 4pm. Just as he looked up from his watch, Tommy and Kimberly had walked through the doorway and made their way towards the table. "Hey guys!" Kimberly said in a cheerful voice.

They exchanged greetings and once everyone was seated, Aisha craned her neck around as if looking for something. "Has anyone seen Zoey?"

Come to think of it, she wasn't anywhere in the Youth Center that they could see. Not at the bar with Ernie, nor at the little nook in the corner full of comfortable chairs that she always enjoyed catching up on her reading at.

"Weren't they going to post the list for the dance theater auditions today?" Billy asked as he tapped an index finger gently on the table.

"Yes!" Kimberly nodded her head and whipped out her phone. "Let me see if she's texted me anything." But the look on Kimberly's face only showed that no, Zoey hadn't messaged her. "Nothing from her."

Aisha and Adam exchanged curious glances. What if she hadn't made it and she didn't want to face her friends with disappointment? Not that Adam would ever blame her. He'd been disappointed countless times and never wanted to deal with facing his friends right afterwards.

A ping on Aisha's phone alerted the group. With a quick glance to her phone, Aisha nodded her head. "She's on her way."

It only took Zoey five minutes to walk through the doorway to the Youth Center. It was hard to read the expression on her face, though it looked like a mix between exhaustion and hunger. The blonde had skipped through lunch earlier to finish up a project that was due in health class, oddly enough. "Sorry. Took them way longer to post the list." Sighing, Zoey flopped down in the empty seat between Rocky and Adam. Her ratty backpack settled on her lap as she suddenly felt everyone's eyes on her.

"What? Is there something in my teeth?"

Kimberly's eyes widened as she grasped a wadded up napkin in her hand and chucked it towards Zoey. It smacked her right on the forehead.

"What the hell?!"

"Did you make it or not?!" Kimberly tossed another crumpled napkin but this time it went off course and hit Adam in the eye. "Watch it, Kim!"

Zoey sighed once more and averted her attention to the ratty backpack settled on her lap. She could still feel everyone's eyes on her so when she lifted her head, a wide grin appeared on her lips.

"I made it!"

Aisha and Kimberly quickly jumped out of their seats and gave their friend a tight hug while she sat. Adam patted her arm and just nodded approvingly while the others bid her congratulations. Now that she had something else to concentrate on, she just hoped her Ranger duties wouldn't get in the way.

But who was she trying to kid? Obviously it was.

When the group exited the Youth Center, they were just at the edge of the parking lot when their communicators went off. Quickly looking around and seeing civilians nearby, they made their way behind the building. Once the coast was clear, Tommy lifted his arm and activated his communicator. "We read you, Zordon."

"Rangers. Zedd has sent yet another monster down to Earth. His name is Biorhythm and he's currently trying to lure Angel Grove citizens away in the city square." Zordon's voice boomed through the small communicator speakers. "But be careful, we know nothing of this monster as of yet. His abilities could overpower you if you're not paying attention."

"Got it." Tommy gave a quick nod and once he deactivated his communicator, he whipped out his morpher. "Ready? It's morphin' time!"

"White Tiger!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Mastodon!"

"Sabretooth Tiger!"

"Iguanodon!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

This battle started out as every other one did. The oncoming cluster of putties, acting all big and strong but were easily defeated by the Rangers. And honestly, it felt a little _too_ easy. That's when they saw Biorhythm. He had been standing at the center of the city square, twirling a large staff above his head as innocent bystanders tried to run away. Some weren't fortunate enough in escaping, and as a beam of light emitted itself from Biorhythm's staff, it jolted through the people as they fell to the ground, causing them to disappear.

"We've got to help them!" Rocky shouted and just as the group made their way to Biorhythm's location, that's when the second wave of putties appeared. And there were heaps more this time around. "Of freaking course!" Rocky cursed at the reappearance of their clay friends.

Billy and Zoey had been at the front of the group when the second round of putties appeared. Tommy pointed towards Biorhythm, "You two go ahead! Help the citizens and fend off Biorhythm!"

"Got it!" Zoey gave a little wave as she turned to follow Billy to the city square.

Stumbling up the hill, both Billy and Zoey made it to the square. They were attempting to move as many people out of the way as they could and when they succeeded, Biorhythm held his staff above his head. "How dare you get rid of my pawns!"

Zoey looked over her shoulder for a brief second and could breathe a sigh of relief when no other citizen was in sight. Her focus then turned to Biorhythm, who kept the staff above his head. "Since you got rid of my pawns, I need something to replace them."

"That's unfortunate for you." Billy shook his head and sprung forward, delivering a swift kick to Biorhythm's stomach. And while he only staggered slightly, it made him cackle. "That tickled!"

Zoey's eyes rolled on the inside of her helmet. "You've got some serious issues." As she pulled out her nunchucks, she took off towards the monster. Twisting her arm around, her nunchucks collided with Biorhythm's arm. The contact made him lower the staff ever so slightly. "Stupid human!"

"Zoey!" Billy shouted his friend's name and held out his lance just in time to dodge a powerful attack from Biorhythm's staff.

Biorhythm's growls filled the air and as he pulled his staff back, he quickly raised his arm once more. "You two are getting on my nerves."

* * *

The putties weren't all that tough to begin with, but when they kept leaping out of nowhere, it began to take a toll on you. As soon as Adam would finish off a pair of putties, three more would appear in their place. "They're like rabbits!" He shouted in frustration as he looked around to see his friends and teammates also struggling. Aisha would take down a putty only to have another drop down from behind her, forcing her to start all over again. The same could be said for Rocky, Kimberly and Tommy.

But when the black ranger got the chance to look towards the square, he could see that Billy and Zoey weren't fairing much better than they were. Biorhythm was a nasty opponent, though he looked like a cross between a musical conductor and a gazelle. Quite a baffling combination, but then again, Adam's never seen a gazelle dressed like a conductor before.

"We need to help them!" Kimberly bellowed when she saw Biorhythm advance on the now fallen Zoey and Billy. The scene before them seemed to light the fire that the remaining rangers needed and in no time, they were able to demolish the remaining putties. "We're coming you guys!" Tommy shouted as he and the other four rangers took off towards the city square.

"You took my pawns away from me. And since you did that, you two are going to play a little game. Have fun!" Biorhythm let out a malicious laugh and aimed his staff towards Billy and Zoey who were on the ground in a broken heap.

"Power daggers!" Aisha's voice broke through Biorhythm's laughter and as they struck the monster's arms, it was too late.

Billy and Zoey were nowhere to be seen.

Biorhythm laughed and lifted up his cloak towards his face. "See you later, pesky rangers!" With a quick twirl and sweep of the cloak, Biorhythm disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now what?" Rocky asked, his friends looking all around for any signs of their missing comrades.

"We need to go see Zordon." Tommy said as the remaining rangers gathered around, all deciding that's what they needed to do. "Without them, we really need to work together."

"Hang on, guys." Adam said softly before the group teleported to the Command Center.

* * *

Her head was throbbing. It was one of those whopping headaches that could render her useless for hours. And when she finally opened her eyes, Zoey realized what exactly she had landed on.

Billy.

"Shit! Billy! I'm sorry!" Rolling off of her friend, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

A soft groan alerted Zoey that he was indeed fine, just shaken up. "I'd rather not do that again." Billy said as he sat up. Wherever they landed, they had demorphed on the way down. And as Billy attempted to use his communicator, he realized it was useless since each time all he received was static in return. It was pointless, but Zoey also tried her communicator, just in case Billy's broke on impact. Wherever they were, communication with their friends was definitely out of the question.

"Where are we?" Zoey asked as both she and Billy managed to slowly get to their feet. They were currently surrounded by trees. Very large trees, like the redwoods not too far from Angel Grove. Except they were nowhere near Angel Grove.

Billy looked over his shoulder at Zoey and frowned. "I don't think we're in Angel Grove, anymore."

An exasperated groan escaped Zoey's lips. "Don't tell me we dropped a house on a witch. Because if munchkins start popping up, I'm officially done." She threw her hands up in the air in surrender and Billy turned around. "Something seems familiar about this place." The blue ranger said, index finger tapping lightly at his chin. "I feel like I've seen it before."

Cocking her head to one side, Zoey answered, "You've been here before?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. But I've seen this place somewhere." Billy rubbed the back of his head with his fingers, after all their landing had been pretty rough. "I might be able to fix our communicators, then we can get a hold of the others."

Zoey's eyebrows practically went into her hairline at Billy's response. "McGuyver, how exactly are you going to do that?"

The blue ranger side-eyed Zoey and shook his head. "If only I had some chewing gum and a paperclip. But really, something's jamming the frequency. If we could just figure out what it is."

Something was always jamming the frequency. They were brought here for a reason by Biorhythm, and she was almost afraid to know why. And then it hit her. "Billy!"

He had been tinkering with his communicator, not being able to pull it apart without any tools, but that hadn't stopped him from trying to think of a solution. Blinking from behind his glasses, he quickly looked over at his blonde friend. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you remember what Biorhythm said before we got zapped to this place?" Zoey held her arms out at her sides, hands shaking as such. When Billy shook his head signalling that he hadn't, the blonde chimed in. "He said something about us playing a game. What if we're in a game?!"

It didn't take long for Billy to process the thought. And as the seconds ticked on, Zoey could swear she saw the wheels turning in his head. Snapping his fingers, Billy pointed at Zoey. "Perhaps. But what kind of game?"

It could be any type of game. And the worst part was, they couldn't even morph. So wherever they were, if they had to fight, it would be much more daunting now that they didn't have their powers. Zoey frowned as she took a small step back. What she hadn't noticed was the steep hill behind her. The ground beneath her began to give away, rocks moving under her black hi-tops. Before it even registered what was going on, Zoey felt herself falling backwards. She barely had the chance to shout Billy's name before she tried to grab onto anything that would keep her from falling.

The last thing she remembered hearing was Billy screaming out her name.

* * *

"While you were fighting off Biorhythm, we were able to learn more about Zedd's latest monster." Zordon said just moments after the other rangers appeared back at the Command Center. Alpha had flipped a few switches on the control board, lights flashing as the viewing globe came to life. The five remaining rangers all turned towards the globe, anxiously awaiting Zordon and Alpha's findings.

"He likes to play games. And not just any games. He sends his victims straight into video games." Only Kimberly turned around to face Zordon. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"He sends his victims into the video game of his choice. And if they are able to fight their way through the challenges they'll face, they're free. If not," Zordon was cut off by Adam, who had been the one standing furthest away. "Can't we somehow get a hold of them? We have to get them out of there!"

Tommy gently placed a hand on Adam's shoulder. They had tried using their communicators after their friends disappeared to no avail. If they could somehow get a hold of their comrades, it would've been done already. "And of all the times for Billy to get sucked into a video game."

They had to put their heads together. Without Billy, it would be hard to figure out where to start but that didn't mean they'd be useless without him. "Actually, Billy's been showing me a few things in his lab and maybe we can come up with something." The five remaining rangers, Adam included, stood in a huddle. As they began thinking of solutions, the alarms went off in the Command Center.

It was obvious Biorhythm was back on the prowl and looking for more victims to play games with him.

"Rangers. Biorhythm has reappeared in downtown Angel Grove. Be careful and stay alert." The rangers nodded at Zordon and left Alpha try to break through the frequency and get a hold of Billy and Zoey.

"It's morphin' time!" Tommy shouted.

* * *

When Zoey opened her eyes, the sky above her was dark. Wherever she was, a large amount of time had obviously passed by. Groaning, she attempted to sit up. She had fallen a fair distance but at least she hadn't stumbled onto a sharp bed of rocks.

"Billy?" Zoey rubbed both sides of her head with her hands. That headache wasn't going away any time soon and the fall she just took wasn't doing anything for it. When she had stumbled, Billy had shouted for her but now he was nowhere in sight. There was no telling where her friend was.

There was no telling where _she_ was.

Rule number one of getting sent to another world against your will, don't ever get separated from your group.

In this case, don't ever get separated from Billy.

As Zoey got to her feet, there was a sudden sharp pain in the side of her head. Now was not the time to get one of her migraines. She just needed to find Billy and get out of this place. Trying her communicator once more, she frowned when she realized it was cracked. It must've broken during her fall. Oh well, it's not like it worked where she was, anyways.

Thinking if she could just retrace her steps, then perhaps she could find Billy. Now if she could just figure out where that was. "Billy!" She shouted but heard nothing.

"I could really use those ruby slippers right about now."

* * *

**Author's Note****: Sorry this chapter is a bit jumbled. I broke a finger on my left hand about two weeks ago so it's been difficult trying to write and type this for you guys. But hopefully it's okay! Chapter 6 should be up sometime around the weekend of April 17th! And if anyone's interested in Dino Charge, I have a series of Chiley one shots up on my page if you're interested! Check it out! It's called 'It Began One Afternoon'.**

** Thank you to lolsmileyface6, AvalonBay, gossamermouse101, brankel1 &amp; BadWolfBabe for reviewing the previous chapter!**


	6. Breaking Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

**\- Chapter Six - Breaking Out -**

Billy was lost. He'd somehow lost Zoey earlier in the day and now that he slowly began to piece together where they were, he got lost. He spent all evening looking for Zoey and after taking a short break, went back on the trail looking for her once again.

He'd come to the conclusion that they were in some sort of video game. Billy only figured that out after the tree he had been sitting next to began to flicker like it was some sort of glitch. He'd only seen something like that in a video game. Not to mention the strange monster he fought right at dusk. Thankfully he didn't need to morph to defeat the monster, because let's face it, morphing here wasn't an option. Defeating that monster seemed a bit too easy.

Unsure of what to do next, Billy continued on in search of his friend. Once they would be reunited, then they could work on a plan on getting out of this place.

"If I were Zoey, where would I be?"

Asleep somewhere, probably. His friend mentioned once that she enjoyed taking them.

Zoey had to be around here somewhere. This place shouldn't be _that_ big.

* * *

Somehow, Zoey managed to make it through the night unscathed. She spent the majority of her time alone at night just searching for Billy, but always came out empty handed. What she couldn't figure out was where did he go and why couldn't she find him? This place couldn't be that big, could it?

And the more she thought about it, the more Zoey began to realize that she too recognized this place. But from where? She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Or perhaps she played so many videos games before that they all sort of blended together in her mind.

When she finally thought her eyes weren't going to stay open any longer, Zoey ended up climbing a tree. There was no way she'd fall asleep unprotected on the ground. She's seen _The Hunger Games_, if Katniss Everdeen could sleep in a tree, well then so could Zoey Montgomery.

Sleep obviously wasn't in the cards for Zoey because as soon as she perched herself up in that tree, a noise below caught her attention. Careful not to give away her location, she crouched down on her branch and peered around the trunk of the tree. There wasn't anything there and for a second, Zoey thought she was completely losing her mind. The lack of sleep and water was clearly getting to her.

That was until she heard a loud screech. The noise was enough to scare the ever living crap out of the blonde and make her stumble out of the tree. She landed flat on her back, the wind completely escaped from her lungs. Zoey had fallen out of trees before but this was entirely new. And it was painful. Coughing wasn't helping and whatever made that noise was creeping up on her.

"Well, if it isn't the purple ranger. Get separated from your friend?"

There stood Biorhythm.

And he was as disgusting looking as before.

Zoey coughed before she managed to scramble to her knees. There was no way she'd be able to defend herself if she couldn't morph. And the only things around her that would suffice as weapons were large branches that had fallen from the tree above.

The only thing she could do now was stall Biorhythm.

"God, you smell like you just crawled out of a trashcan. Tell me, what kind of cologne do you use?" Out of the corner of her eye, Zoey saw a branch that looked like it would work well enough. Quickly grabbing it, she launched herself forward and took aim towards the monster before her.

Only she didn't exactly hit Biorhythm.

Instead she went right through him as if he were a ghost, sending Zoey flat on her face.

"What the hell?!" Zoey lifted her face out of the dirt and looked up to see nobody there. Biorhythm was gone, leaving nothing in his place. Groaning, the blonde managed to get back on her feet and didn't even bother to brush the dirt off of her jeans. She was probably on going to get dirtier as the day wore on.

With Biorhythm suddenly vanishing, Zoey began to think she was losing her mind. After all, it had been almost a day since she had anything to eat or drink. Strangely enough, she didn't feel like she needed either of those things. All she needed to do was find Billy.

Just then, a small cluster of putties jumped out of nowhere and surrounded the purple ranger. By this point, she wasn't even surprised. "Of all times for you weirdos to show up, you pick now?!" As they came closer, Zoey managed to kick up a cloud of dirt to use as a cover.

It worked for a couple seconds as she was able to take down a few of the clay creatures. But as she was about to take down the last pair, she realized just how tired she began to feel. Trying her best to shake it off, Zoey swung her right arm forward, knocking a putty to the ground. "You guys really are easy to beat." Easier than usual, which was odd.

As she turned to kick the back of the final putties knees in, she saw Billy had appeared out of nowhere and already finished the job. "Billy!" After she launched herself at her friend in a tight hug, she pulled away to see that he too, had been covered in dirt. "Did you eat dirt trying to fight Biorhythm, too?" She asked the blue ranger.

"So you saw him, too?" Billy questioned and his blonde friend nodded. "I think he was somehow projecting himself here, trying to see how far we got."

Zoey's eyebrows raised up to her hairline at Billy's words. "How far we got?"

Billy went on to explain that since they were somehow thrown into a video game, they were being forced to fight whatever creature was thrown in their path. Mainly the putties. And with each round of fighting, their opponents were only going to get stronger and more difficult to defeat, especially without the ability to morph.

"So what you're trying to say is.."

"Biorhythm's just going to keep sending putties and who knows what at us until we're too exhausted to fight."

That sounds about right. With no way to morph, with nowhere to rest and nothing to eat, they wouldn't be able to last forever.

"We need a way out of here, Zoey. And we need to find one fast."

* * *

Biorhythm was a slippery character. One minute he would be fighting the remaining rangers, the next, he'd be gone.

But not for long. He would always appear just as they let their guard down and the fight would start all over.

"Nice try, rangers! While you try to defeat me, your pathetic little friends grow weaker in my world!" Biorhythm taunted the five and surprisingly, it was Adam who was getting the most aggravated.

"Where are they?!"

Aisha had tried placing her hand on Adam's shoulder but he quickly shrugged it off. Biorhythm just continued to laugh as he raised his staff up in the air. "Oh don't worry, they're safe with me." He waved the staff around as he sent another wave of putties towards the rangers. "I'll just leave these with you while I go take care of your friends!"

"Guys!"

Kimberly shouted as they began to fight the putties. The pink ranger spun on the ground, using her legs to knock a couple of the clay creatures to the ground. "I have an idea!" That caught the attention of the others, and while they fought, Kimberly let them know her plan. "His staff! He said Billy and Zoey were safe and when he said that, he waved that ugly staff around!" She sent her right elbow into the gut of an oncoming putty.

"Are you trying to say that if we destroy the staff, they'll be free?" Adam asked right before he did a back flip, narrowly avoiding a putty trying to punch him to the ground.

"There's only one way to find out!" Tommy shouted. Together as a team, they were able to take out the remaining putties and stood there to face Biorhythm. He hadn't gotten very far, just to the top of the hill. As he turned around, the monster began to laugh once again. "You really think it'll be that easy to save your friends? That's fine if you do, the damage will be done no matter what happens!"

"What damage?" Adam shouted.

"Just doing what Lord Zedd has asked of me!"

* * *

"Is it just me, or is it getting hotter out?" Zoey asked as she and Billy trudged along the seemingly long path to nowhere. There were grassy patches sprouting out of the dirt, delicate trees now surrounding them. It almost made Zoey miss the giant redwoods they'd landed around before. Almost.

"Affirmative. It's almost like we're in the desert." Billy had to stop and clean the smudges off of his glasses with the hem of his shirt.

As they spent the last few hours walking, they ran into four more groups of putties, each group becoming stronger than the rest. It was only a matter of time before the pair of rangers wouldn't be able to defeat the clay creatures. Zoey was beginning to feel sleepy, and she began thinking about curling up underneath one of those tiny little trees and falling asleep. But she couldn't leave Billy, not when they were finally reunited.

"This sucks." Zoey put it bluntly.

"I agree." Billy sighed and turned towards his friend. "Look, we'll get out of here somehow. You know everyone's trying to figure out what happened." Zoey tilted her head towards Billy and crossed her sweaty arms over her chest. "I know but just telling you, I'm pretty sure my organs are melting right now."

Shaking his head, Billy spoke. "I highly doubt your organs are melting."

Zoey flailed her arms overhead. "Tell that to my head! It's been pounding ever since we got here! Are you sure that's not melting?!"

Billy reached forward and placed his hand on Zoey's shoulder in an attempt to calm his friend down. "First off, how about you take a second to breathe. I don't have a paper bag for you to breathe into."

"You sure you can't make that paper bag magically appear? Maybe something to eat?" Or drink, because Zoey was definitely losing her mind now. And by the look on Billy's face, she would say he wasn't too far off. "Can we at least sit down for a few minutes?"

Thankfully, Billy agreed and the pair sat down underneath a particularly dinky little tree that provided pretty much no shade from the sweltering sun.

"Hey, Zoey?"

"What, Billy?"

"I think I understand what you mean by your organs are melting, now."

Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to rest because no sooner did they sit down, a fifth group of putties appeared and this time, there was three times as many as there had been previously. "Ugh, seriously? I can't take this much more!"

Billy and Zoey did their best to fend the putties off, but it was clear just how exhausted and famished they were. Zoey lost count of how many times one putty knocked her to the ground, her jeans were officially nothing but caked on mud and dirt at this point. Billy wasn't fairing very well, either. He lost his glasses a few times and each time he'd pick them up, he'd end up losing them again. Biorhythm's plan was working well to his advantage, Billy and Zoey were exhausted, and without the ability to morph, they were toast.

Just as the cluster of putties loomed overhead, the pair of rangers tried to prepare for what was inevitably next. Their demise.

But something was drawing the putties away. A bright light seemed to overtake them, and while it enveloped Billy and Zoey, they didn't think it was causing them any harm. "Are we dying?" Zoey asked and Billy shook his head.

"Looks like they figured a way to rescue us."

Just as soon as they appeared in the video game world, they appeared back in Angel Grove. Their bodies hit the ground hard and for what seemed to be the third time since disappearing, Zoey had the wind completely knocked out of her. She was really beginning to hate being tossed around like a salad, but she was thankful to be back on her own planet. At least, she was sure she left the planet before.

"Zoey! Billy!"

Their group of friends had shouted their names and the first to reach them were Rocky and Adam as they had been the closest to the pair. Rocky had helped Billy get to his shaky feet, while Adam tried to do the same with Zoey. "Are you guys okay?" Adam asked as he let his right arm crook underneath Zoey's arm and around her back. "We're fine." Billy breathed and had his arm draped over Rocky's shoulder to keep himself a bit more stable. They were obviously tired and dehydrated, nothing a little rest and water wouldn't take care of.

"Ugh, no! Stupid rangers! How dare you get rid of my pawns!" Biorhythm growled and shook his newly destroyed staff so hard that it fell to the ground. As it was, Kimberly's hunch was correct. They thought if they could destroy Biorhythm's staff, then perhaps Zoey and Billy would be freed. After a quick blast from Saba, Tommy was able to destroy the staff and sure enough, their friends suddenly appeared.

As she was still leaning into Adam, she reached around for her morpher and lifted it up.

"Are you sure you two are okay to fight?" Aisha asked and both her teammates nodded.

"As long as we can morph, it'll be fine." Billy said as he and Zoey quickly stood on their own, morphers held out in front of them. "It's morphin' time!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Triceratops!"  
"Iguanodon!"

It sure did feel nice to morph again. Thankfully they could do so now that they were back in Angel Grove. They didn't realize morphing was so important to them until they couldn't do it anymore.

Zoey stood up straight, stretching her arms out over her head. "Oh thank God. I was beginning to worry I'd feel like a slug forever." While her head was still pounding, she was just grateful to morph again. And she was certain that Billy was feeling the same way.

As Biorhythm continued to throw his temper tantrum, Zedd let him grow to the size of a skyscraper and no sooner did that happen, the rangers called upon their zords to fight. The fight was much easier this time around and just as they were about to deliver the finishing blow towards Biorhythm, he let out a sinister laugh.

"Even though you'll destroy me, you won't be winning the war."

Down to the ground Biorhythm went in a puff of smoke, the rangers looked at one another completely puzzled by the monster's last words.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rocky asked and none of his friends had an answer for him.

* * *

"Adam, for the umpteenth time, I'm fine! You don't have to do this!"

When the battle was over and everyone had gone home to rest, Adam insisted on sitting with Zoey at her place. Her parents were still in Philadelphia, and he felt bad knowing that she was in that house all by herself. He wasn't just going to let her sit by herself for the rest of the day when she just spent two days lost in some weird video game world. Not to mention his friend looked positively exhausted when she returned with Billy, the least he could do was take care of her.

That's what friends were for, right?

"No. I don't have to." Adam sighed as Zoey opened the front door to her house. "I _want_ to. Sorry but you're stuck with me."

Funny, wasn't that the exact same thing Zoey said to Adam when they went on that scavenger hunt?

When they were in the Zoey's house with the door shut behind them, the blonde turned towards Adam. "I'm allowed to at least take a shower, right? Because if you haven't noticed, I look like somebody dumped a sack of dirt over my head." She was right, her jeans were plastered with dirt and dried patches of mud were caked onto her knees. Her purple long sleeved shirt hadn't fared well, either but at least it wasn't ripped to shreds. And her blonde hair had been matted to her cheeks with sweat and dirt.

"You shower. I'll order the pizza."

"You're going to spoil me with pizza?"

Adam laughed. "It's the least I can do since you were trapped in some video game for the last 36 hours."

Zoey smiled. At least she had Adam around, because even though she wouldn't admit this out loud, she didn't want to be home by herself. And she suspected that Adam knew that without her saying a single word.

Once she had showered and towel dried the majority of her hair, Zoey stopped to look at herself in the mirror. She looked like a complete mess, despite just cleaning herself up. There were no visible wounds from her ordeal with Biorhythm, thankfully. But her head was still pounding. Zoey decided that was the lack of food and water she didn't have recently, and once she'd eaten, it would just remedy itself.

After changing into something a little more comfortable, the usual sweatpants and short sleeved shirt, she bounded down the stairs to find Adam sitting in her living room looking at all of the pictures hanging up on the wall. Much like what Kimberly and Aisha had done during their first sleepover.

"Are you entertained?" Zoey asked and Adam looked over towards the blonde. All he did was smile and nod his head. Using an index finger, he pointed to one picture in particular and continued to smile. "That one is really cute. Is that you with your dad?"

Zoey's breath caught in her throat when she realized what picture it was Adam was pointing to. "No." She whispered, "That's my uncle with me when I was four." It was a picture of a man who Zoey shared similar facial features with and he was holding a small girl with braided pigtails. Growing up, Zoey and her sister's spent a lot of time with their uncle and cousins. Some of the blonde's favorite memories came from those times.

Adam had his other hand tucked into the front pocket of his sweatshirt but when he saw the look of concern on his friend's face, he used that arm to wrap around her shoulders and pull her against him. "Want to talk about it?"

"Soon. Not quite ready." Zoey whispered and all Adam could do was nod. If she wasn't ready to talk about it, then he wasn't going to pressure her. Something was obviously bothering her and hopefully in her own time, she'd tell.

With his arm still wrapped around her shoulder, Adam continued looking at the pictures. "What's this one about?" He used his free hand to point at another picture. It was a picture of Zoey and her two best friends back in Philadelphia, Maya and Drew. Taken on the steps of her old high school, it was one of the last photos that had been taken of the three together. Zoey explained this to Adam and he nodded. "Think they'll come out to visit?"

They talked about it. It's not that easy right now with school still in session, and with Zoey battling crazy monsters on the side that no one else knew about. Maybe in the summer or sometime next year. "Probably in the spring. Winter can be brutal in Philly so they'll probably want a break. I'm sure they'll come here for the weather more than anything."

Adam shook his head, he doubted it. Like he's said before, the weather is always a plus. "You never know."

Just as the pair sat down on the sofa, waiting for the pizza to finally arrive, Zoey's phone began to buzz on the coffee table. Scrambling off the squishy surface, she grabbed it to find the call was from her mother. "Sorry." She gave Adam an apologetic smile and swiped her thumb across the screen to answer it. "Hey, mom."

Adam could hear Mrs. Montgomery's voice on the other end of the phone, but it was faint. He wasn't quite able to understand everything she said apart from the '_how are you?_' and the '_is everything okay out there?_'

"I'm fine, mom." Zoey said into the phone as she switched it from one ear to the other. Now that the phone was closer to Adam, he could actually hear Mrs. Montgomery a little better. Not that he was trying to listen in or anything, it was just hard not to while he was sitting right next to Zoey.

"Well, we're going to be here for a few more days. Need to work some things out. If you think you can get some time off from school for a couple days, we can have you fly out here and visit him before-" Mrs. Montgomery was cut off by Zoey's shaky voice. "I want to. And I will. Maybe I can see about getting some stuff for extra credit? And Dance Theatre doesn't start for a little, I can maybe miss one or two rehearsals." She shrugged and turned to look at Adam, obviously he was going to have questions when this phone call was over. The look on his face said it all.

When Zoey said goodnight to her mother and clicked off her phone, she almost didn't want to turn and face Adam. She knew there'd be questions and while she wasn't quite ready to answer them, she needed to tell _somebody_.

And she was right, when she turned to her left, he had this look of complete concern on his face. "You have to go back to Philly?"

Taking a deep breath, Zoey nodded. "My uncle, the one in that picture, is sick. They want me to go see him before something happens." She waved her hands in front of her, as if that was going to stop the tears from coming. It did, at first, but it wasn't enough to keep them from coming. "I just really don't want to talk about this." Her voice came out in a faint whisper and all Adam could do was gather her up in his arms.

"You don't have to say anything." Adam let Zoey lean against him in a hug, her face buried itself against his chest. They stayed in that exact position for a few minutes, the room completely silent save for the sniffles come from the blonde. She hated crying in front of anyone, but her emotions got the best of her.

"Sorry." Was all Zoey could say when she finally sat up, trying to avoid Adam's eyes. She didn't need to see just how pathetic he thought she was.

Instead when she did catch a peek of his face, he had a small smile on his face. "No need to be. You know I'm here for you, right?" It was almost enough to send Zoey over the edge again so instead of crying, she just wiped at her eyes with the back of her right hand. "Thanks, Adam. I really appreciate it."

Zoey was incredibly grateful to have Adam around. While her heart was slowly breaking, he was there to provide a distraction. They sat there and ate their pizza and watched whatever they could find on TV. The selection on TV that night wasn't wonderful but they eventually settled on a few movies. _The Avengers_, _Spaceballs _and the pair somehow ended up falling asleep during the first _Harry Potter_ movie.

It had been Zoey who ended up falling asleep first. That's what crying did to a person, made your eyes feel heavy, your eyelids not wanting to stay open any longer. Once again, she fell asleep with her head resting on Adam's shoulder. And it didn't take Adam much longer to fall asleep. He was up for a little while longer, seeing Harry finally play his first quidditch match before his eyes refused to stay open anymore.

It wasn't until the movie finally ended and the DVD player shut itself off when the pair slowly began to wake up.

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Zoey glanced at the wall clock and saw it was after midnight. "Holy shit, Adam!" She shot up, thankfully not tripping over anything or knocking Adam off of the sofa. He too moved quickly and jumped to his feet. "What?!"

What a rude awakening.

"It's after midnight!"

Hasn't this happened before?

Adam looked at the clock and then looked at his phone. No new messages, no missed calls from his parents. "Well, I did sort of tell my parents I was staying at Rocky's tonight."

Zoey just stood there, a bit confused. Either she was still asleep or she heard Adam wrong.

"I figured you wouldn't want to be alone. And after, well after the phone call from your mom, kinda gathered you wouldn't mind me staying?" Adam asked, genuine sincerity in his voice.

"You mean, stay here tonight? And what about Rocky?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "Actually it was Aisha's idea. I didn't think you'd want me to, and if you still don't, that's fine."

It wouldn't be surprising if Aisha and Rocky were somewhere outside of Zoey's house, listening to their conversation. The Stone Canyon Spies.

Zoey stood there with his arms crossed over her chest, now that she was up and about, she was getting cold. "I don't really want you to leave but," She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts out of her mind. "I just don't want you to get in trouble for being here." She didn't know Adam's parents, he rarely spoke about them but did say once they weren't very strict. Zoey just didn't want to be the reason that they _do_ become strict with their son.

Laughing softly, Adam waved a hand in front of him. "We thought this though, it's fine. But if you really want me to go, I will."

There it was again. That feeling in the pit of her stomach. Just looking at Adam like this made her heart pound. There he was, standing there. Looking at her with concern in his eyes and looking like he genuinely cared about her. He never gave her a reason to feel otherwise. And then there was Zoey, standing before Adam looking like she had just been run over by a train. Having been stuck in a video game world for the last 36 hours, dealing with an on-going headache and just now spilling the beans about her uncle.

The thing was, Zoey really didn't want to be alone.

She knew that she'd have to fly across the country by herself. And while she wasn't looking forward to that, for now she could at least spend more time with the one person she was slowly beginning to care about.

Not that she'd ever admit that aloud.

"I want you to stay." The blonde whispered.

Watching that smile appear on Adam's face was contagious and soon a small smile spread across Zoey's lips. "On one condition, though."

Adam raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.

"We get to watch more _Harry Potter_."

"Deal. But can we skip _Chamber of Secrets_? It's my least favorite."

Zoey laughed. "I don't like that one, either!"

What a strange thing to bond over, but it was something.

Eventually the pair fell asleep on the sofa again, but not before Adam slipped out of his sweatshirt and giving it to Zoey. "You're cold." He said and while she tried to give him back the sweatshirt, he just shook his head. "You can wear it. I'm fine." When in reality he didn't need to wear it since Zoey had been leaning up against him the rest of the night. Where she finally fell asleep with her head in his lap, wrapped tightly up in his _Angel Grove High Soccer_ sweatshirt.

After making it through one more movie, the DVD player and TV remained off for the rest of the night.

And Zoey slept for the remainder of the night, Adam sleeping peacefully on the sofa with her. It was the first good night's sleep Zoey had in a few weeks.

* * *

The Montgomery's had bought Zoey's plane ticket the following morning, and her flight was scheduled to leave later that day. The gang was kind enough to drop her off at the airport, even if Zoey wasn't keen on giving them the details on why she had to fly back home so suddenly.

"We're sorry about your uncle." Kimberly said, giving Zoey a tight hug. Aisha nodded after hopping out of the car. "We'll be fine here. You need to be with your family right now."

With her small suitcase and carry-on at her side, Zoey stood on the curb and said goodbye to her teammates and now close friends, giving each of them a tight hug. "Let us know if you need anything." Aisha said as Rocky closed the backdoor of his Jeep. Tommy and Billy stood next to the car as Zoey grabbed hold of her things, waving to her friends as she walked through the doors to Angel Grove International Airport.

"Let us know when you get there!" Kimberly shouted through her hands and Tommy rolled his eyes. "You act like she's your daughter."

"Well! Maybe she is!"

"That's not weird or anything." Rocky said as he narrowly avoided a playful smack coming from Aisha.

Adam watched his friend walk through the doors and disappear in the crowd of travelers. Hopefully everything was going to be okay. As the group all turned back towards the car, Adam's phone buzzed in his pocket.

_**Thank you. :) I'll call after landing.**_

Little did Adam know was that Zoey had his sweatshirt tucked safely into her small carry-on bag. She was happy to take it with her.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Sorry this didn't go up on it's usual day. Work picked up and messed with my normal schedule. The plot is finally starting to pick up with this chapter, and will only grow from here. The next chapter should be up around the weekend of May 1st/2nd. My birthday is next Thursday, so hooray for cake!**

**Thank you to all who reviewed the previous chapter! AvalonBay, NightmareOnElmStreetFan, Guest, Son of Whitebeard, BadWolfBabe, 1980sjfk, gossamermouse101, Jimmyle311, brankel1 and Guest. You guys are amazing!**


	7. The Chrysalis Period

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Power Rangers universe, as much as I'd like to! I only own a few original characters that will be popping up here and there, and I'm sure you'd be able to pick out who they are. For now, enjoy!**

**Summary: **_I somehow knew that I'd see you when I rounded that corner. These coincidences keep multiplying, it's like fate keeps putting us together. No matter how tough this becomes, I won't run. _

Zoey Montgomery spent her summer packing up and moving across the United States with her family, not that that's how she wanted to spend her summer vacation. Her older sisters are back in college on the east coast, and Zoey is just trying to remember that she doesn't live in Philadelphia anymore, she's living in Angel Grove, California. As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe having a little bit of help would make her want to actually stay in Angel Grove. Not run away from it. But her whole life is about to change and it's only the second day of school.

**Beginner**

**\- Chapter Seven - The Chrysalis Period-**

"Something's still bothering me."

Billy frowned as the small group of friends all gathered in his garage laboratory. It had been a habit that they usually meet there after school, and today was no different. They had just finished up with school for the day when they all met up at Billy's. The blue ranger had been sitting on a stool, tinkering with something on the desk when he set his instrument down.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as he pulled up another chair, sitting on it as he put his arms behind his head.

The others had all gathered around, mainly sitting on empty chairs, the end of Billy's desk and then there was Rocky who had been leaning against the garage door.

"Something seems off. Don't you guys feel it?" Billy asked and while everyone looked at one another, they all shook their heads.

"Well, we're missing one person. Is that what you mean?" Kimberly asked and Billy frowned. "Yes, Zoey's back in Philadelphia but that's not it. I can't explain it well enough right now, but am I really the only one who senses this?"

Clearly he was, because the others all concluded that maybe Billy was tired still from his ordeal with Biorhythm. It had been rough on the blue and purple rangers, so maybe there were still some lingering affects from being stuck in a video game world. "Actually, my head hurts still. I need to get some Tylenol."

That was strange.

"You have a headache?" Adam asked and Aisha turned to him in curiosity.

Billy had his elbow resting on the desk, his fingers massaging his temples. "Yeah. Been on and off since we got back from wherever Biorhythm took us. Why?"

Adam stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe it's a coincidence but Zoey had been complaining about a headache right before she left."

The group took turns looking at one another before all pairs of eyes ended up landing on Billy. "It is a coincidence, right?" Rocky asked from his spot against the garage door.

It had to be.

* * *

Hospitals were the absolute worst. It was common knowledge that not many people enjoyed being in one, whether it be because they landed themselves in there or were visiting someone. They always had a funky smell to them, one that you could never quite put your finger on, and honestly, you probably wouldn't want to know where the smell was coming from. Anxious people would pace in numerous hallways, and you didn't know if you should just smile at them or walk by without any acknowledgement. Mentioning hospital food was also wrong because let's face it, it never stood a chance.

Zoey sat in a small waiting room by herself. Her parents had gone to get some coffee, and her older sisters wouldn't be by until later in the day when classes were over. Maya had been there with her earlier, but seeing how it was a school day, she was back at Frankford High attending classes. Now she was all by herself, alone with her nonexistent thoughts.

Swinging her legs underneath the chair, Zoey leaned forward and propped her elbows up onto her knees. It was cold out, but as soon as they'd entered the hospital, she took her purple jacket off. Now it just draped on the back of her chair, sleeves dangling at each side. The only noises she could hear were the occasional voices that filtered through the halls and the opening and closing of nearby doors.

But something else caught her attention.

Looking up to see if anyone was around her, Zoey saw that she was indeed still by herself in the small waiting room. Nobody had walked by since that nurse did ten minutes ago.

There was a faint whisper, she couldn't quite make out what it said. But it was there, Zoey knew it.

Sighing, she shook her head and decided she was probably just losing it. Someone left their phone sitting somewhere and they got a message on it, that's what Zoey heard. Or maybe everything was beginning to get to her. Was she finally starting to crack?

With her elbows still propped up on her knees, Zoey tilted her head so her right cheek could lay just in the palm of her open right hand. Closing her eyes could do some good right about now, if nobody was around she could take a quick cat nap.

But there it was again, though this time it was louder. And it sounded as though it was right in her ear. Whipping her head around and ignoring the fact that blonde pieces of hair were stuck against her lips, Zoey still couldn't see anyone else in the room with her.

This was getting too weird.

Clawing her fingers at her face to free the hair from her lips, she reached into her back pocket to pull out her phone. All she needed to do was double check that something on her phone wasn't making the noise. But when she pushed the home button, there were no new notifications on her screen. So it couldn't be her phone making the noise.

It wasn't until her parents returned with coffee that the whispering stopped.

* * *

Friday evenings were usually uneventful in the Cranston household. Depending on the day's workload, sometimes the Cranstons would order out dinner and sit around their round kitchen table talking about their day. Others involved a family style meal, cooked by Mrs. Cranston with the help of Billy followed by movie viewing in the living room. Tonight was one of those nights that they decided to order out, seeing how nobody felt like cooking.

With Mrs. Cranston out picking up their dinner and Mr. Cranston about to leave work for the day, Billy sat by himself at the desk in the kitchen. He had some homework to do, and wanted to finish it up before the evening was over. If he finished his work, that just meant more tinkering on his projects in the garage lab.

Pencil in hand, Billy was just about to flip open his calculus book when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Just out of his peripheral vision, it was almost a shadow. Knowing he was completely alone in the house, Billy turned his head and scanned the kitchen. Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at him. The window by the sink was open to let the light breeze flow through, maybe that caused something to move. That had to have been what Billy saw.

Shaking his head, he turned back to his calculus homework.

Getting part of the way through his homework, Billy stopped to grab a glass of water. His parents would be home any minute, Billy figured. Opening the cabinet where they house the glasses, Billy heard a faint whisper that caused him to freeze in place.

His first instinct was to look around the room again. Nothing out of the ordinary, just like before. Walking to the door that led to their garage and driveway, Billy saw that his parents weren't home yet, so it couldn't have been them.

Billy sighed, trying to convince himself that he was just imagining things. He heard something outside the open kitchen window, probably. He was so engrossed in his calculus homework, that he didn't realize his neighbor's were doing something in their yard. They must've been trimming the hedges or mowing the lawn.

At least, that's what Billy tried to convince himself.

"Billy! We're home!"

His parents made their appearance at just the right time. Billy came to the conclusion that he was losing his mind.

And that headache was slowly coming back.

* * *

"Since when has Billy ever been late?"

"He isn't _that_ late, Rocky." Kimberly tapped her finger on their table at the Youth Center. Their small group of friends tried to make a habit out of spending time together a few days a week after school, and today was one of those days. It just so happened that today of all days, was the one day Billy happened to be the last to arrive.

"He's probably in the library." Adam shrugged his shoulders before he turned back to his history book.

The group made quiet chatter for the next few minutes before Billy finally arrived. His arms were full of books that certainly couldn't fit in the backpack hanging off of his left shoulder. At the sight of the armful of books, Adam raised his eyebrows at Kimberly as if to say _I told you so_.

Billy plopped the books down on the round table with a heavy _thud_ and sighed. "Sorry I'm late. Got caught-"

"Got caught up perusing the reference section." Aisha finished Billy's sentence.

The blue ranger's cheeks began to tint with that faint shade of pink as his own sentence was taken from him. Was he that predictable? "Well, yes. I was there to look up something for English class, but got sidetracked."

Tommy leaned back in his chair and pointed to the massive pile of books on the table in front of him. "I'd call this a little more than sidetracked."

The group of friends began laughing as Billy shook his head at them. A little more than sidetracked was definitely it, Tommy had been correct. There was something bothering him, and he still couldn't quite put his finger on it yet. Needless to say, this turned into a distraction and a backache from all of those books he had been lugging along.

"Did I miss anything?" Billy had asked as he finally sat down in the last empty seat at the table.

Rocky shook his head. Things were relatively quiet among the friends since school let out for the day. Save for the random chatter coming from Aisha and Kimberly about what happened on the latest episode of _America's Next Top Model_.

"If you mention Tyra Banks one more time.." Rocky started but Aisha cut him off. "You'll what? Throw one of these books at me?" She gestured to Billy's mountain of books and instantly, Billy placed his hand on top of them. He shook his head as if trying to tell Rocky to not use one of the books as a projectile weapon.

Adam looked up from his history homework to see Rocky smirking at Aisha. As long as no books started flying, there was nothing to worry about.

It wasn't until their communicators went off that Adam sighed.

He spoke too soon.

* * *

Living in Southern California was such a nice change from the chilly winds in Eastern Pennsylvania. Winter was approaching, Zoey thought to herself as she sat on the steps leading up to her old high school. After wandering away from the hospital, she found herself here waiting for her friends to be set free for the day.

Tugging the knit hat down over her ears, Zoey had scooted off towards the side of the steps when students began pouring out the doors signalling the end of another day.

"There she is!"

Maya waved her right hand enthusiastically as she bounded down the steps with a much taller brunette male behind her.

"Maya! Drew!" Zoey was almost instantly on her feet when she greeted two of her closest friends. "Made it through another day, I see."

Drew nodded his head as Maya snapped her fingers together. "Just barely. My parents are going to be so pissed because I barely passed my Spanish test."

At Frankford High, you had to take a foreign language for at least two years in order to graduate. And they only offered two, Spanish and French. Most took Spanish, Zoey was among them while she still lived in Philly. Drew on the other hand, was one of the slight few who took French. "I don't know about you but my French test was a piece of cake."

Maya scoffed and turned her attention back to Zoey. "Speaking of cake, how about these three amigos head down to the corner cafe and grab us some cake?" She let her arm drape over Zoey's shoulder as the three began to walk down the steps.

"Oh look at that, that Spanish class is definitely helping you." Drew teased Maya for her use of _amigos_ and narrowly avoided being knocked over.

It was nice being around her old friends again. It was nice visiting her old haunts, even though the chilly wind didn't necessarily agree with her.

What Zoey didn't realize was at that very moment, her phone was going off in her coat pocket. She ended up turning her volume all the way down while she was in the hospital, and never bothered to turn it back up.

Maybe it was best she didn't notice her phone silently trying to alert her of an incoming call.

* * *

"When I asked you to get me that new power coin, I hadn't expected you to be taking your good old time doing so!"

Lord Zedd wasn't pleased with Goldar, which wasn't anything new. The only thing Goldar could do was hang his head in defeat as he got to his knees. "But my lord, it'll happen soon enough. And I may get you another power coin in the process." Sure it was by accident that the blue ranger ended up getting trapped along side the purple ranger, it would end up working in Goldar's favor.

"I don't care what you do, but this time you won't fail." Lord Zedd stood up from his throne, staff resting carefully in his right hand. "We will defeat Zordon's pesky power brats, then the world will be mine!"

Little did Zedd know was that their plan was already working. And instead of one ranger as his prize, he might just end up with two.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Yes, I know I haven't updated in months. Yes, I know this chapter is much shorter than the rest. Filler chapters are necessary. As for why I've been MIA for months, most of it is due to personal reasons that I do not wish to discuss. Hopefully updating this will be better next year. Other than that, thank you for the reviews for the last chapter and hope everyone enjoys the holidays!**


	8. Author's Note (please read!)

_**This is just a temporary author note!**_

I know this hasn't been updated in nearly a year, but life has been rough. Dealing with health problems, a crazy work schedule and just recently fell down my stairs and broke my tailbone. Is anybody still interested in me updating this story? I'd love to continue but don't know if anyone even remembers this little story of mine.

Please feel free to message me here or on my twitter at 'paracharger' if you'd like me to continue. I'll leave this up for a few weeks but will eventually delete this note.


End file.
